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This  is  to  certify  that  this  is  one  of  an  edition 
of  five  hundred  copies  printed  from  type  in  the 
month  of  October,  1898. 


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PRINCETON 
SESQUICENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 

1746-1896 


MEMORIAL  BOOK 

OF 

THE  SESQUICENTENNIAL  CELEBRA- 
TION OF  THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE 
COLLEGE  OF  NEW  JERSEY  AND  OF 
THE     CEREMONIES    INAUGURATING 

PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 


PUBLISHED  FOR 

THE  TRUSTEES   OF   PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

NEW  YORK 

MDCCCXCVIII 


Copyright,  1898,  by 
The  Trustees  of  Princeton  University. 


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0-- 


PREFACE 

^^fg^^HIS  book  is  issued  to  save  in  some  permanent 
■  "*  ^'  '  form  the  record  and  memories  of  the  Princeton 
Sesquicentennial  Celebration.  It  contains  a  full 
account  of  the  celebration,  written  by  Professor 
Harper,  copies  of  the  letters  and  telegrams  of  formal  con- 
gratulation, and  a  historical  sketch  prepared  by  Professor 
De  Witt.  The  entire  volume  has  been  in  the  editorial  charge 
of  Professor  West.  In  the  printing  and  illustration  of  the 
book  we  have  been  greatly  helped  throughout  by  the  careful 
supervision  and  good  judgment  of  Mr.  Charles  Scribner  and 
Mr.  Arthur  H.  Scribner,  alumni  of  the  university. 

By  reason  of  their  rich  coloring  and  ornamentation,  many 
of  the  congratulatory  letters  could  not  be  reproduced  with 
exactness  in  print.  However,  the  letters  have  been  printed 
in  plain  black,  but  with  as  much  general  resemblance  to 
their  originals  as  types  would  secure.  To  give  an  example 
of  their  artistic  beauty,  one  of  the  finest,  the  letter  of  the 
University  of  Bologna,  has  been  reproduced  in  facsimile  on 

vii 


a  reduced  scale.  The  other  illustrations  are  almost  entirely 
views  of  buildings  or  scenes  connected  with  the  celebration 
and  portraits  of  the  twelve  Presidents  of  Princeton. 

The  chairman  of  the  Sesquicentennial  Celebration,  Mr. 
Charles  E.  Green,  died  in  Princeton  on  December  23,  1897. 
His  sudden  and  unexpected  death,  after  a  life  of  labor  and 
love  freely  given  to  Princeton,  and  his  unremitting  efforts  in 
behalf  of  the  celebration,  make  the  insertion  of  his  portrait 
in  this  book  exceptionally  appropriate. 

To  all  their  guests  during  those  fair  October  days  in 
1896,  to  the  many  universities  and  learned  societies  repre- 
sented by  delegates  or  parchments  of  congratulation,  to 
their  very  generous  benefactors  on  that  occasion,  and  to  all 
the  sons  and  friends  of  Princeton  everywhere,  the  President, 
Trustees  and  Faculty  of  Princeton  University  dedicate  this 
memorial  book. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


3^axt  jFirjst 


PAGE 
I 


AN    ACCOUNT    OF    THE    SESOUICENTENNIAL    CELE 
BRATION.       By  Professor  George  Maclean  Harper,  of 
the  Class  of  1884. 

General  Preparations 

The  Public  tenures  delivered  by  Professor  Karl  Brugmann 
of  the  University  of  Leipzig,  Professor  Edward  Dowden  of 
the  University  of  Dublin,  Professor  A.  A.  W.  Hubrecht  of 
the  University  of  Utrecht,  Professor  Felix  Klein  of  the 
University  of  Gottingen,  Professor  Andrew  Seth  of  the 
University  of  Edinburgh  and  Professor  J.  J.  Thomson  of 
the  University  of  Cambridge  .17 

[The  lectures  are  not  printed  in  this  book,  as  they  have  been  already 
separately  published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.] 

ix 


PAGE 


The  First  Day  of  the  Celebration,  Tuesday,  October  20  .  20 

The  Religious  Service  in  Alexander  Hall  ■         -27 

The  Sermon  by  President  Patton            ....  28 

The  Reception  of  Delegates  in  Alexander  Hall               .  56 

List  of  Delegates  from  Universities  and  Learned  Societies  56 

Remarks    of  Mr.   Charles  E.   Green,  of  the  Class  of  i860, 

Chairman  of  the  Sesquicentennial  Celebration  64 

Address  of  Welcome  by  the  Reverend  Doctor  Howard  Duf- 

field,  of  the  Class  of  1873     ......  65 

Reply  of  President  Charles  William  Eliot,  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, in  behalf  of  the  American  Universities  represented  jj 

Reply  of  Professor  J.  J.  Thomson,  of  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, in  behalf  of  the  European  Universities  represented  80 

List  of  Addresses  of  Congratulation       ....  83 

The  Introdu^ion  of  Delegates  in  the  Chancellor  Green  Library .  87 

Exhibition  of  Historical  Relics       .....  88 

The  Orchestral  Concert  in  Alexander  Hall  -91 

The  Second  Day  of  the  Celebration,  Wednesday,  October  21  92 

The  Poem  and  Oration  in  Alexander  Hall       ...  92 

The  Poem  recited  by  the  Reverend  Doctor  Henry  van  Dyke, 

of  the  Class  of  1873    .......  93 

The   Oration   delivered   by  Professor  Woodrow  Wilson,   of 

the  Class  of  1879  .......  102 

The  Football  Game  at  tJje  University  Athletic  Field  .131 

TJje  Unveiling  of  the  Memorial  Tablet  at  Nassau  Hall      .  133 

The  Torchlight  Procession  through  Princeton  and  the  Review 

at  Nassau  Hall      ........  137 


PAGE 


The  Third  Day  of  the  Celebration,  Thursday,  October  22  147 
The  Sesqiiicentennial  Anniversary  Exercises  in  Alexander  Hall  1 48 
Remarks  by  President  Patton  .  .  .  .  150 

Announcement  of  the  Endowments         .  .  .  153 

Announcement  of  the  University  Title  -154 

The  Ceremony  of  Conferring  the  Honorary  Degrees  154 

The    Address    of    His    Excellency    the    Honorable    Grover 

Cleveland,   President  of  the   United  States   .  .  .162 

The  Luncheon  and  Reception  to   the  President  and  Mrs. 
Cleveland  at  Prospeft .170 

The  Glee  Club  Concert  in  Alexander  Hall   .  170 

The  Farewell  Dinner  in  the  Assendily  Hall       .         .         .        171 
Receptions  Following  the  Celebration  .  .175 

List  of  Contributors  to  the  Sesquicentennial  Endowment  182 

LETTERS    AND    TELEGRAMS    OF    CONGRATULATION 
Arranged  alphabetically  under  the  following  divisions: 

From  Universities,  Colleges  and  Learned  Societies  .        .187 

American 189 

Canadian 247 

European 253 

Other  Countries         ...  •        •        ■  303 

From  Associations  and  Individuals    ....       307 


3^art  %\m 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH    OF  PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY 
By  the  Reverend  Professor  John  De  Witt,  of  the  Class  of  1861. 

PAGE 

The  Beginnings  of  University  Life  in  America  -3^7 

The  Origin  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  .         322 

The  Founding  of  the  College.     The  Two  Charters       ,  .    334 

The  Opening  of  the  College.     The  Administrations  of  Jona- 
than Dickinson,  Aaron  Burr  and  Jonathan  Edwards     .         348 

The  Administrations  of  Samuel  Davies  and  Samuel  Finley  367 

The  Administration  of  John  Witherspoon  379 

The  Administrations  of  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith  and  Ashbel 
Green       .  .  .  .  -391 

The  Administrations  of  James  Carnahan  and  John  Maclean    406 

The  Administration  of  James  McCosh.     The  Beginning    of 

the  Administration  of  Francis  Landey  Patton  423 

Historical  Note  on  the  Orif^in  of  Princeton   University  by  the 

Reverend  Professor  Shields,  of  the  Class  of  1844  .  455 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Arms  of  Princeton  University 
Nassau  Hall.     Etching  by  Mercier 
Seal  of  Princeton  University 
Sesquicentennial  Memorial  Medal 

Designed  by  Thomas  Shields  Clarke  of  the  Class  of  1882. 

Patriotic  Memorial  Arch 

Designed  by  William  S.  Whitehead  of  the  Class  of  1891. 

Alexander  Hall — Interior  View 


Cover 

Facing  Title-page 

Title-page 

Headpiece  to  Table  of  Contents 

xvi 

Facing  page 


The  New  Library  —  Exterior  View 

The  New  Library — The  Courtyard 

Charles  Ewing  Green  .... 

Blair  Hall — The  Tower  .... 

The  Chancellor  Green  Library 

Whig  Hall  and  Clio  Hall  ,  . 

Upper  Pyne  Dormitory        .... 

Memorial  Tablet  placed  on  Nassau  Hall 

Lower  Pyne  Dormitory 

The  Torchlight  Procession        .... 

Prospect 

David  Brown  Hall  ..... 

The  Houston  Medal,  made  in  1768,  and  containing  the  earliest 

medallic  picture  of  Nassau  Hall  .  Tailpiece  to  page  185 

Congratulatory  Letter  of  the  University  of  Bologna, 

in  facsimile  on  a  reduced  scale  .  .  Facing  page  187 


28 
40 

56 

64 

72 

88 

104 

120 

Page    133 

Facing  page   1 34 

144 

170 

180 


Academic  Memorial  Arch 

Designed  by  Howard  Crosby  Butler  of  the  Class  of  1892. 


188 


Facsimile  of  Congratulatory  Letter  of  the  University 

ofTokio       .......  Facing  page  306 

Aula  Nassovica,  1760 — The  earliest  picture  of  Nas- 
sau Hall            .          .          .           .           .          .  .          .316 

Portraits  of  the  Twelve  Presidents  of  Princeton 

The  first  eleven  are  reproduced  from  the  paintings  in  Nassau  Hall.  The  portrait  of 
President  Patton  is  from  a  photograph 

Jonathan  Dickinson           .....  Facingpage  348 

Aaron  Burr         ......  354 

Jonathan  Edwards  ......  366 

Samuel  Davies    ......  370 

Samuel  Finley          ......  376 

John  Witherspoon        .....  382 

Samuel  Stanhope  Smith  .....  394 

Ashbel  Green      ......  402 

James  Carnahan      ......  408 

John  Maclean     ......  418 

James  McCosh         ......  424 

Francis  Landey  Patton          ....  448 


^art  jRrjst 


AN    ACCOUNT   OF  THE 
SESQUICENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


GENERAL    PREPARATIONS 

^?T  is  not  generous,  so  much  as  it  is  just,  to  cele- 

11   brate    the   pious    memory    of  founders.     They 

are  the  fathers  of  institutional  hfe.     They  have 

^^^^  given  us  great  and  goodly  cities  which  we 
builded  not,  and  houses  full  of  all  good  things  which  we 
filled  not,  and  wells  digged  which  we  digged  not,  vineyards 
and  olive-trees  which  we  planted  not.  Far  more  than  in 
lands  where  the  state  is  directly  concerned  with  higher  edu- 
cation, the  colleges  of  America,  like  many  in  the  mother- 
country,  owe  their  existence  to  the  wise  forethought  and 
devoted  liberality  of  private  individuals,  who  of  their  own 
free  will,  and  pursuing  no  selfish  ends,  labored  for  the 
future.  There  is  thus  peculiar  fitness  in  acknowledging 
frequently,  and  with  all  due  dignity  and  splendor,  our  ever- 
increasing  debt. 

It  was  natural  that  such  thoughts  should  come  to  the 
minds  of  the  trustees  and  faculty  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  at  the  approach  of  the  year  1896.  There  were  few 
colleges  which  owed  so  much  to  the  efforts  of  early  bene- 
factors, or  had  clung  so  fondly  and  so  long  to  the  ideals  of 
their  original  conception.      The  College  of  New  Jersey  had 


2  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

gained  much  and  suffered  somewhat  by  a  proud  and  stub- 
born loyalty  to  herself  and  by  reverence  for  her  makers. 
She  had  been  often  charged  with  excessive  respect  for  the 
old  ways,  and  had  borne  the  accusation  unashamed,  though 
not  unmoved.  And  she  had  always  changed  in  due  time, 
if  change  was  best,  but  never  dishonoring  her  past.  It  was 
felt  that  now  she  might,  without  loss  of  modesty,  and  indeed 
by  way  of  bounden  duty,  commemorate  her  founders  and 
their  noble  aims,  her  sons  and  their  achievements ;  that  she 
might  emphasize  and  avow  those  of  her  long-cherished 
ideals  which  had  worthily  survived ;  that  she  might  honor 
herself  by  entertaining  distinguished  guests. 

But  there  was  also  in  the  minds  of  trustees  and  faculty  the 
thought  that  they  too,  in  a  sense,  should  be  founders ;  that 
this  anniversary  would  give  occasion  for  throwing  off  old 
disabilities  and  acquiring  new  power ;  that  the  time  had 
come  for  a  great  liberalizing  of  purpose  and  a  great  ex- 
pansion of  activity.  To  this  end,  they  conceived  that  the 
celebration  which  they  already  saw  as  a  possibility  should 
be  not  only  retrospective  and,  so  to  speak,  domestic,  but 
stimulating  and  broadly  comprehensive.  It  should  also  be, 
they  thought,  an  earnest  of  future  improvement.  It  should 
inaugurate  not  only  an  era  of  better  opportunity  along  many 
and  diverse  lines  of  culture,  but  a  revival  of  learning  and 
high  discipline,  a  more  serious  and  reasoned  application  of 
our  own  well-tried  methods  in  the  pursuit  of  old  and  honored 
ends.  The  movement,  it  was  hoped,  would  have  depth 
and  intensity,  together  with  whatever  extension  should  be 
within  our  means. 

These  ideas  began  to  take  definite  shape  in  the  spring  of 
1894,  when  the  faculty  appointed  a  committee  to  ascertain 
the  precise  date  of  the  founding  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey.  On  the  report  of  this  committee,  the  faculty  de- 
termined the  date  to  be  the  twenty-second  of  October,  1746, 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  S 

the  day  when  the  first  charter  was  signed.  In  November, 
1894,  the  board  of  trustees  resolved  that  there  should  be  a 
sesquicentennial  celebration,  and  fixed  upon  October  the 
twenty-second,  1896,  as  the  anniversary  day,  in  accordance 
with  the  view  of  the  faculty.  The  trustees,  at  this  meet- 
ing, further  resolved  to  endeavor  to  collect  a  memorial  en- 
dowment fund,  and  to  consider  the  question  of  a  change  of 
title  from  "  The  College  of  New  Jersey "  to  "  Princeton 
University."  To  carry  these  three  purposes  into  effect, 
three  committees  were  appointed  —  one  on  the  proposed 
change  of  title,  another  on  endowment,  and  a  third  on  the 
sesquicentennial  celebration.  These  committees  were  con- 
stituted as  follows : 


I.  Committee  on  Change  of  Corporate  Title  : 

Charles  E.  Green,  LL.D.,  Chairman,  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 

President  Patton,  Princeton. 

Thomas  N.  McCarter,  LL.D.,  Newark,  New  Jersey. 

Henry  M.  Alexander,  LL.D.,  New  York  City. 

Hon.  Edward  T.  Green,  LL.D.,  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 


IL  Committee  on  Endowment: 

Trus/ces. 

James  W.  Alexander,  A.M.,  Chairman,  New  York  City. 

Hon.  John  A.  Stewart,  New  York  City. 

Charles  E.  Green,  LL.D.,  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 

Rev.  J.  Addison  Henry,  D.D.,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

M.  Taylor  Pyne,  LL.B.,  A.M.,  Princeton. 

Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  A.M.,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

John  J.  McCook,  LL.D.,  New  York  City. 

J.  Bayard  Henry,  A.M.,  Philadelphia.  Pennsylvania. 


4  PRINCETON  SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Faculty. 
The  President  of  the  College. 
The  Dean  of  the  Faculty. 
Professor  John  T.  Duffield. 
Professor  William  M.  Sloane. 
Professor  Andrew  F.  West,  Secretary. 

Ahimni. 

William  B.  Hornblower,  LL.D.,  New  York  City. 

Adrian  H.  Joline,  A.M.,  New  York  City. 

Charles  Scribner,  A.M.,  New  York  City. 

C.  C.  Cuyler,  A.M.,  New  York  City. 

S.  B.  Huey,  A.M.,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

John  D.  Davis,  A.M.,  St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

James  Laughlin,  Jr.,  A.M.,  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania. 

W.  W.  Lawrence,  A.M.,  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania. 

EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE. 

James  W.  Alexander,  A.M.,  Chairman. 

President  Patton. 

Charles  E.  Green,  LL.D. 

M.  Taylor  Pyne,  LL.B.,  A.M. 

Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  A.M. 

John  J.  McCook,  LL.D. 

Professor  William  M.  Sloane. 

Professor  Andrew  F.  West,  Secretary. 

in.    Committee  on  the  Sesquicentennial 
Celebration  : 

Trustees. 

Charles  E.  Green,  LL.D.,  '60,  Chairman,  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 

President  Patton. 

Rev.  Dr.  E.  R.  Craven,  '42,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Hon.  John  A.  Stewart,  New  York  City. 

Rev.  Dr.  William  Henry  Green,  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Hon.  Thomas  N.  McCarter,  LL.D.,  '42,  Newark,  New  Jersey. 

Rev.  S.  Bayard  Dod,  A.  M.,  '57,  East  Orange,  New  Jersey. 

M.  Taylor  Pyne,  LL.B.,  A.M.,  '-]■],  Princeton. 

James  W.  Alexander,  A.M.,  '60,  New  York  City. 

Rev.  Dr.  George  B.  Stewart,  '76,  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania. 

Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  A.M.,  '79,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

John  J.  McCook,  LL.D.,  New  York  City. 

J.  Bayard  Henry,  A.M.,  '76,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 


Mr.  Edwin  C.  Osborn,  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

Faculty. 

The  Dean  of  the  Faculty. 
Professor  Henry  C.  Cameron,  '47. 
Professor  Charles  W.  Shields,  '44. 
Professor  William  A.  Packard. 
Professor  Cyrus  F.  Brackett. 
Professor  Charles  A.  Young. 
Professor  William  M.  Sloane. 
Professor  William  Libbey,  '"i"]. 
Professor  W.  B.  Scott,  '']']. 
Professor  Allan  Marquand,  '74. 
Professor  Andrew  F.  West,  '74,  Secretary. 
Professor  Woodrow  Wilson,  '79. 
Professor  W.  F.  Magie,  '79. 
Professor  H.  D.  Thompson,  '85. 

Altcmni. 

Mr.  A.  P.  Whitehead,  '50,  New  York  City. 

Hon.  John  L.  Cadwalader,  '56,  New  York  City. 

Hon.  W.  L.  Dayton,  '58,  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 

General  W.  S.  Stryker,  '58,  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 

Mr.  R.  M.  Cadwalader,  '60,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  J.  Dundas  Lippincott,  '61,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Hon.  John  R.  Emery,  '61,  Newark,  New  Jersey. 

Hon.  Joseph  Cross,  '65,  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey. 

Hon.  J.  K.  McCammon,  '65,  Washington,  D.  C. 


6  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

Hon.  R.  Wayne  Parker,  '67,  Newark,  New  Jersey. 

Mr.  William  Scott,  '68,  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Elmer  Ewing  Green,  '70,  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 

Mr.  James  M.  Johnston,  '70,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Hon.  Bayard  Stockton,  '72,  Princeton. 

Rev.  Dr.  Henry  van  Dyke,  'jt„  New  York  City. 

Rev.  Dr.  Howard  Duffield,  '-jt,,  New  York  City. 

Rev.  Dr.  S.  J.  McPherson,  '74>  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Dr.  M.  Allen  Starr,  '76,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  George  A.  Armour,  '77,  Princeton. 

Mr.  C.  C.  Cuyler,  '79,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Cleveland  H.  Dodge,  '79,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Rudolph  E.  Schirmer,  '80,  New  York  City. 

Hon.  D.  M.  Massie,  '80,  Chillicothe,  Ohio. 

Rev.  James  D.  Paxton,  '80,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Pennington  Whitehead,  '81,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Philip  N.  Jackson,  '81,  Newark,  New  Jersey. 

Mr.  Thomas  Shields  Clarke,  '82,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Lawrason  Riggs,  '83,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

Mr.  Thomas  B.  Wanamaker,  '83,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Junius  S.  Morgan,  '88,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  T.  H.  Powers  Sailer,  '89,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Henry  M.  Alexander,  Jr.,  '90,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  C.  Ledyard  Blair,  '90,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Henry  W.  Green,  '91,  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 

Mr.  Irving  Brokaw,  '93,  New  York  City. 

Mr.  John  W.  Garrett,  '95,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

Mr.  Albert  G.  Milbank,  '96,  New  York  City. 

EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE. 

Mr.  Charles  E.  Green,  Chairman. 

President  Patton. 

Dean  Murray. 

Mr.  James  W.  Alexander. 

Mr.  M.  Taylor  Pyne. 

Mr.  John  J.  McCook. 

Mr.  J.  Bayard  Henry. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

Professor  C.  A.  Young. 

Professor  W.  M.  Sloane. 

Mr.  C.  C.  Cuyler. 

Mr.  Richard  M.  Cadwalader. 

Hon.  R.  Wayne  Parker. 

Professor  Andrew  F.  West,  Secretary. 

THE    SUB-COMMITTEES. 

The  Chairman  and  Secretary  were  members  ex  officio 
of  all  sub-committees. 

On  Programme. 

Rev.  Dr.  E.  R.  Craven,  Chairman. 
Rev.  Dr.  George  B.  Stewart. 
Mr.  John  J.  McCook. 
Rev.  Dr.  Howard  Duffield. 
Rev.  Dr.  Henry  van  Dyke. 
Hon.  Joseph  Cross. 
Mr.  Elmer  E.  Green. 
Professor  W.  B.  Scott. 
Professor  Allan  Marquand. 
Professor  H.  D.  Thompson. 

On  Invitations. 

Professor  W.  A.  Packard,  Chairman. 
President  Patton. 
Professor  C.  W.  Shields. 
Professor  William  Libbey. 
Mr.  Elmer  E.  Green. 

On  Publication. 

Dean  Murray,  Chairman. 
Rev.  S.  Bayard  Dod. 
Professor  H.  C.  Cameron. 
Professor  W.  M.  Sloane. 
Professor  Woodrow  Wilson. 
General  W.  S.  Stryker. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Mr.  James  M.  Johnston. 
Mr.  George  A.  Armour. 
Mr.  Junius  S.  Morgan. 

On  Honorary  Degrees. 

President  Patton,  Chairman. 
Rev.  Dr.  William  Henry  Green. 
Hon.  T.  N.  McCarter. 
Dean  Murray. 
Professor  C.  A.  Young. 
Professor  C.  F.  Brackett. 
Professor  W.  M.  Sloane. 
Professor  W.  B.  Scott. 
Professor  Woodrow  Wilson. 
Hon.  John  L.  Cadwalader. 
Dr.  M.  Allen  Starr. 
Hon.  John  R.  Emery. 
Mr.  A.  P.  Whitehead. 
Hon.  W.  L.  Dayton. 

On  Reception  and  E titer tainmeni. 

Mr.  James  W.  Alexander,  Chairman. 

Professor  William  Libbey,  Secretary. 

Mr.  M.  Taylor  Pyne. 

Mr.  J.  Bayard  Henry. 

Professor  H.  C.  Cameron. 

Professor  Allan  Marquand. 

Professor  W.  F.  Magie. 

Professor  H.  D.  Thompson. 

General  W.  S.  Stryker. 

Hon.  W.  L.  Dayton. 

Mr.  R.  M.  Cadwalader. 

Mr.  George  A.  Armour. 

Hon.  Bayard  Stockton. 

Mr.  Cleveland  H.  Dodge. 

Mr.  C.  C.  Cuyler. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  9 

Mr.  H.  M.  Alexander,  Jr. 
Mr.  Henry  W.  Green. 
Mr.  E.  C.  Osborn. 

On  Siudctit  and  Alumni  Participation. 

Mr.  M.  Taylor  Pyne,  Chairman. 

Professor  H.  D.  Thompson,  Secretary. 

Mr.  J.   Bayard  Henry. 

Professor  William  Libbey. 

Professor  W.  F.  Magie. 

Hon.  J.  K.  McCammon. 

Mr.  William  Scott. 

Mr.  James  M.  Johnston. 

Hon.  Bayard  Stockton. 

Rev.  Dr.  Howard  Duffield. 

Mr.  C.  C.  Cuyler. 

Mr.  Cleveland  H.  Dodge. 

Hon.  D.  M.  Massie. 

Mr.  Rudolph  E.  Schirmer. 

Mr.  Pennington  Whitehead. 

Mr.  Philip  N.  Jackson. 

Mr.  Thomas  Shields  Clarke. 

Mr.  Lawrason  Riggs. 

Mr.  Thomas  B.  Wanamaker. 

Mr.  Junius  S.  Morgan. 

Mr.  T.  H.  Powers  Sailer. 

Mr.  C.  Ledyard  Blair. 

Mr.  Henry  M.  Alexander,  Jr. 

Mr.  Henry  W.  Green. 

Mr.  Irving  Brokaw. 

Mr.  John  W.  Garrett. 

Mr.  Albert  G.  Milbank. 

The  College  of  New  Jersey  never  having  been  vitally 
connected  with  the  State  of  New  Jersey  or  dependent  upon 
it,  and  the  name,  moreover,  being  misleading  for  the  reason 
that  since  the  removal  of  the  institution  to  Princeton  in  1756 

2 


10  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

it  had  been  popularly  known  as  Princeton  College,  there 
had  long  been  a  desire  among  its  graduates  that  the  name 
should  be  changed.  Not  only  was  the  institution  in  no  strict 
sense  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  but  it  had  ceased  to  be 
merely  a  college.  Indeed,  it  had  been  one  of  Princeton's  dis- 
tinctions that  while  many  colleges  and  pretentious  schools 
gave  themselves  the  sounding  title  of  university,  she,  with 
real  university  equipment  and  real  university  work  to  show, 
had  long  been  content  with  the  modest  name  of  college. 
But  the  time  had  come  when  it  seemed  to  all  her  friends 
that  she  should  assume  a  designation  which  henceforth, 
more  even  than  before,  she  was  to  merit.  The  Committee 
on  Change  of  Corporate  Title  therefore  reported  favorably, 
and  acting  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  State,  drew 
up  the  following  certificate,  which,  on  the  thirteenth  of 
February,  1896,  was  signed  by  the  trustees  whose  names 
are  appended,  sworn  to  and  subscribed  by  the  clerk  of  the 
board  of  trustees  before  a  notary  public,  and  deposited  in 
the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county  on  the  twenty-seventh  of 
May,  1896.  On  the  anniversary  day,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  the  granting  of  the  first  charter  to  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  this  document  was  filed  with  the  Secretary  of 
State  of  New  Jersey,  as  shown  below. 

CERTIFICATE  OF 
CHANGE  OF  CORPORATE  NAME. 

The  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  a  College  Corpora- 
tion, being  an  institution  of  learning  organized  under  and  by  virtue 
of  Letters  Patent  of  his  Majesty  George  the  Second,  King  of  Great 
Britain,  France  and  Ireland,  granted  and  issued  by  Jonathan  Bel- 
cher, esquire,  Governor  and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Province  of 
New  Jersey,  September  14th,  1748,  and  established  by  Acts  of  the 
Legislature  of  New  Jersey,  now  in  force  in  this  State,  doth  hereby  cer- 
tify that  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  said  corpo- 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  11 

ration  called  (among  other  things)  for  the  purpose  of  changing  the 
corporate  name  of  said  College  or  institution  of  learning,  the  said  Board 
of  Trustees  by  a  two  thirds  vote  of  the  members  present  at  said  meet- 
ing resolved  to  change  the  name  of  said  corporation  to  The  Trus- 
tees of  Princeton  University  ;  and  to  that  end  the  said  corporation 
doth  certify  and  set  forth  : 

I.  That  the  name  of  said  corporation  in  use  immediately  preced- 
ing the  said  vote  and  the  making  and  filing  of  this  certificate  was 
''The  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey." 

II.  The  new  name  assumed  to  designate  said  corporation  and  to 
be  used  in  its  business  and  dealings  in  the  place  and  stead  of  that 
mentioned  in  the  last  preceding  paragraph  is  "  The  Trustees  of 
Princeton  University." 

In  Witness  Whereof  the  said  The  Trustees  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  hath  caused  the  official 
seal  of  said  Board  of  Trustees,  being  also  the 
common  seal  of  said  corporation,  to  be  here- 
unto affixed  ;  and  the  undersigned,  being  a  ma- 
jority of  said  Board  of  Trustees,  have  hereunto 
set  their  signatures;  all,  this  thirteenth  day  of 
February,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  ninety-six. 


[Seal.] 


Francis  L.  Patton,  President,  M.  Taylor  Pyne, 

E.  R.  Craven,  James  W.  Alexander, 

Henry  M.  Alexander,  F.  B.  Hodge, 

William  M.  Paxton,  D.  R.  Frazer, 

John  A.  Stewart,  John  K.  Cowen, 

John  Hall,  George  B.  Stewart, 

W.  Henry  Green,  Cyrus  H.  McCormick, 

Charles  E.  Green,  M.  W.  Jacobus, 

Thomas  N.  McCarter,  W.  J.  Magie, 

S.  Bayard  Dod,  Edw.  F.  Green, 

J.  Addison  Henry,  John  J.  McCook, 
John  Dixon. 


12  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

State  of  New  Jersey, 


,  ss: 
County  of  Mercer. 

Elijah  R.  Craven,  Secretary  (otherwise  known  and  designated  as 
Clerk)  of  "  The  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,"  being  duly 
sworn,  on  his  oath  says  that  the  foregoing  certificate  is  made  by  au- 
thority of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  said  corporation  as  expressed  by 
a  two  thirds  vote  of  the  members  present  at  a  regular  meeting  of 
said  Board  called  (among  other  things)  for  that  purpose. 

E.  R.  Craven. 
Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this 

13th  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1896. 

E.   C.   OSBORN, 

[Seal.]  Notary  Public. 

Endorsed.  "  Received  in  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  County 
of  Mercer,  N.  J.,  on  the  27th  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1896,  and  recorded 
in  Book  C  of  Corporations  for  said  County,  page  369. 

"  B.  GuMMERE,  Jr.,  Clerk." 

"Filed,  October  22nd,  1896. 

"Henry  C.   Kelsey,  Secretary  of  State." 

STATE  OF  NEW  JERSEY. 

Department  of  State. 
I,  Alexander  H.  Rickey,  Assistant  Secretary  of  State  of  the  State 
of  New  Jersey,  do  hereby  Certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy 
of  the  Certificate  of  Change  of  Corporate  Name  of  "  The  Trustees  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,"  to  "The  Trustees  of  Princeton  Univer- 
sity," and  the  endorsements  thereon,  as  the  same  is  taken  from  and 
compared  with  the  original,  filed  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  on  the  Twenty-second  day  of  October,  A.  D.,  1896,  and  now 
remaining  on  file  therein. 

In  Testimony  Whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand 
and   affixed  my  Official   Seal   at  Trenton,  this 
[Seal.]  Fourth  day  of  December  A.  D.  1896. 

A.  H.  Rickey, 

Assistant  Secretary  of  State. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  13 

In  the  winter  and  spring  of  1896,  President  Patton  and 
Professor  West  attended  the  annual  meetings  of  the  vari- 
ous Princeton  alumni  associations  scattered  throughout  the 
country,  speaking  in  behalf  of  the  new  movement,  inviting 
an  active  participation  in  the  festivities,  both  by  attending 
the  celebration  and  by  contributing  to  the  memorial  en- 
dowment. Traveling  together  for  the  most  part,  they  visi- 
ted the  associations  and  groups  of  alumni  in  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Washington,  Newark,  Scranton, 
Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  Columbus,  Dayton,  Louisville,  Chi- 
cago, Saint  Louis,  Saint  Paul,  and  Minneapolis.  At  every 
point  there  was  deep  interest  in  the  projected  celebration, 
and  a  hearty  readiness  on  the  part  of  the  alumni  to  lend 
their  help.  Never  before  had  the  alumni  associations 
turned  out  in  such  force  at  their  annual  meetings  as  during 
this  winter  and  spring.  In  the  addresses  delivered,  Presi- 
dent Patton  usually  spoke  of  Princeton's  history  and  aims, 
and  Professor  West  outlined  the  proposed  celebration  and 
indicated  how  the  alumni  might  cooperate  in  making  it 
successful. 

The  Committee  on  Endowment  opened  an  office  in  Uni- 
versity Hall,  which  Professor  West  and  several  assistants 
made  the  centre  of  a  canvass  to  secure  endowment  from  the 
graduates  and  friends  of  the  college.  The  task  was  ren- 
dered difficult  by  the  depressed  state  of  business  through- 
out the  country,  and  by  the  excitement  and  uncertainty  of 
an  approaching  presidential  election ;  and  many,  indeed, 
were  the  predictions  of  failure  or  of  only  partial  success. 
In  general,  however,  it  may  be  said  that  to  any  but  a 
naturally  pessimistic  mind  a  fair  measure  of  success  was 
indubitable  from  the  outset.  For  never,  perhaps,  in  the 
history  of  an  American  college  was  so  large  and  compact  a 
body  of  men  more  determined  to  do  something  for  educa- 
tion and  the  home  that  had  nourished  their  youth  than  the 


14  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

Princeton  authorities  and  alumni.  There  had  in  past  years 
been  many  agencies  at  work  to  promote  the  interests  of  the 
college ;  but  these  undertakings  were  as  diverse  as  they 
were  numerous.  Now  every  effort  was  being  made  to  ac- 
complish one  thing,  and  all  under  one  acknowledged  man- 
agement. 

To  facilitate  the  work  of  reaching  the  alumni  and  reviv- 
ing their  interest,  a  new  edition  of  the  General  Catalogue 
was  prepared,  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Libbey. 
This  was  the  first  one  ever  issued  by  the  college  in  Eng- 
lish, the  old  Triennial  Catalogues  having  all  been  couched 
in  the  Latin  peculiar  to  such  publications.  A  Directory  of 
Living  Graduates  was  also  printed,  and  statistical  tables  of 
the  Princeton  men  in  the  various  professions  and  in  other 
walks  of  life  were  sent  to  the  alumni,  together  with  other 
pamphlets  showing  the  growth  and  good  work  of  the 
college,  and  setting  forth  its  great  need  of  increased  en- 
dowments. 

A  large  sum  of  money  was  needed  to  provide  for  that 
deepening  and  broadening  of  the  opportunities  for  study 
and  research  which  should  accompany  the  change  of  title 
from  college  to  university.  It  was  not  thought,  however, 
that  the  meaning  of  a  university  lay  in  the  presence  of  the 
four  faculties  of  arts  and  sciences,  theology,  law,  and  medi- 
cine, but  rather  that  the  essential  requirements  would  be 
satisfied  in  an  institution  where  a  large  number  of  higher 
studies,  based  upon  a  sound  preliminary  training,  could  be 
carried  on  to  the  fullest  extent,  in  an  atmosphere  at  once 
liberal,  inspiring,  and  strongly  social.  It  was  felt  that  the 
pursuit  of  pure  learning  and  culture  was  more  certainly 
the  office  of  a  university  than  even  the  preparation  for  the 
exercise  of  learned  professions.  The  traditions  of  Prince- 
ton were  in  keeping  with  this  view.  Although  the  terms  of 
the  old  charter  were  so  generous  that  no  change  of  even  a 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  15 

word  was  needed  to  enable  the  college  to  assume  legally  all 
desired  university  powers,  still  it  was  felt  that  the  true  fu- 
ture of  Princeton  would  depend  upon  improvement  and  ex- 
pansion along  the  lines  of  its  history,  rather  than  upon  any 
attempt  to  apply  some  scheme  of  ideal  reconstruction.  Then 
the  considerations  of  location  had  weight.  Princeton  is  the 
only  place  in  America  where  so  large  and  old  a  college  is  to 
be  found  in  a  village.  This  rural  environment,  although 
less  friendly  to  the  ordinary  professional  and  technical  train- 
ing than  to  the  sheltered  quiet  of  academic  life,  was  thought 
to  be  admirably  suited  for  the  development  of  a  university 
devoted  to  pure  learning  and  to  the  liberal  aspects  of  those 
studies  which  underlie  and  help  to  liberalize  professional 
and  technical  education.  Accordingly,  the  chief  desire  of 
the  endowment  committee  was  to  augment  the  library;  to 
provide  better  laboratory  facilities ;  to  create  new  depart- 
ments and  strengthen  the  old ;  to  establish  professorships, 
fellowships,  and  graduate  scholarships  ;  to  diminish  under- 
graduate expenses  ;  and  to  build  dormitories  for  the  foster- 
ing of  a  manly,  scholarly,  social  life.  A  special  feature  of 
the  work  was  the  contribution  by  classes,  the  favorite  ob- 
ject of  class  collections  being  the  foundation  of  fellowships. 
Many  of  the  committee's  purposes  were  destined  to  be 
splendidly  accomplished.  They  kept  their  affairs  secret, 
however,  and  the  amount  and  nature  of  the  gifts  were  not 
made  known  until  the  final  day  of  the  celebration. 

The  preliminary  labors  of  the  Committee  on  the  Sesqui- 
centennial  Celebration  were  long  and  arduous.  When  their 
general  plans  had  been  outlined,  and  the  details  partly  elabo- 
rated, they  issued  an  invitation  to  various  universities  and 
learned  societies,  at  home  and  abroad.  This  invitation  was 
in  Latin,  and  printed  on  parchment.  As  an  example,  a  re- 
duced copy  of  the  one  sent  to  the  ancient  University  of  Bo- 
logna is  here  subjoined. 


ytaCiied   huiatoted  Jozofeddoied 

hoUegit    fOeocaedatiendU 

yitid  cJlludttiddiinui  ^octlddlmld 

cJoectozt  albacjn'ij-ico  et  (STeiiatui  c^cademtco 

Pnlaezditatid  (yl bag'iattotuin  cySononlae  (Doinmotatitlum 

(Sfalutein  in  domino, 


^am  clabente  anno  centcAinio  quinqaageMmo,  utti  dluAtziddimi  et  doctid- 
ainit,  ex  quo  fundatoted  (ooUcgii  lloeocaedattendtd  thedauzuni  Acientiae  in 
agio  dckoladttco  pic  quactentcA  no.itzani  uniuetMtatem  et  condidczunt  ct 
eadeni  qua  hodte  gaudeniuA  docendt  disccndiquc  lioettate  donauciunt 
nobid  placuit  nee  huiuA  bencficti  tmmcmozibud  nee  eozum  uizozuni  qui  pez  annod 
pzaetezitod  alii  donid  dandid  alii  colendi^  atudiiA  nodtzuni  Atudium  genezale  ftzma- 
uetunt  immo  ettam  S)iuinani  illain  pxouideniiam  quae  kucusque  nobid  edt  auxiliata 
pzaecipue  zecognodcentibud  daeeulazed  imittuexe  feztaa  tztduum  celebzandaA  eaddemque 
die  anniuezAazto  cente.nnio  quinquageduno  ad  Aumniuni  uentiizaA  hoc  eAt  die  utceAimo 
Aecundo  menAiA  OctobziA  anno  lani  lani  inennte. 

Sdcizco  noA  SzaeAeA  (ouzatozeA  tLxofeAAozeA  (bollegii  iBeocaeAazicnAiA  multa  et 
azta  uincula  quae  noAtzani  earn  aliiA  uniuexAitattbuA  colligant  zecozdanteA  pzecaniuz 
ul  ununi  altquem  ex  ueAtzo  ozdine  acadenneo  deligatiA  uicaziuin  qui  noApitio  uaua 
noAtzo  nobiAcuni  eo  tenipoze  laetetuz  ubi  quod  antea  fuczit  (collegium   IbeocacAazicnAe 


Vnli 


« 


ntuezditad  JcftincetoniendiA 

tunc  zite  facta  tnauguzabituz  Aolemnitez  ct  nouiA  uizwuA,  Aic  cnini  ApczamuA,  tn  Aae- 
culum  ingzedietuz  nouum. 


2)atufn  5t>tinceloniac 

in  SS,ula  'ioaaaoaica 

die  pzinio  uanuaiii 

iSA'  e?.  MDcccxcyi. 


©cfzanciAcuA  £andeg  Walton, 
^zaeACA. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  17 

But  the  full  extent  of  this  committee's  work  can  be  real- 
ized only  by  a  consideration  of  the  three  festival  days  to  which 
they  led,  together  with  the  preliminary  fortnight  in  October, 
1896.  It  was  chilling  to  think  what  havoc  in  their  plans  a 
few  days  of  rain  might  cause,  and  no  Princeton  man  cared 
to  dwell  upon  the  dire  possibility.  All  that  men  could  do, 
however,  was  done  to  avert  disaster  of  this  sort,  and  there 
was  assurance  in  the  knowledge  that  only  three  times  in  the 
last  twenty  years  had  the  20th,  21st,  and  22d  of  October 
been  aught  but  serenely  magnificent  at  Princeton. 


The  Public  Lectures. 

The  first  treat  provided  by  the  committee  consisted  of  a 
number  of  free  public  lectures  by  distinguished  scholars  from 
other  countries.  They  were  given  from  October  12th  to 
19th  inclusive,  and  attracted  a  large  number  of  alumni  and 
teachers  and  professors,  besides  affording  our  own  faculty 
and  students  an  unusual  opportunity  for  hearing  six  men 
notable  in  their  particular  lines  of  work.  These  courses  were 
an  event  in  the  intellectual  life  of  Princeton,  and  occasioned 
a  lively  interest  throughout  the  country.  Moreover,  it  was 
a  very  great  pleasure  to  have  these  distinguished  gentlemen 
intimately  connected  with  the  social  and  intellectual  life  of 
Princeton,  even  for  the  all  too  brief  period  of  a  fortnight,  and 
their  presence  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  seriousness  and 
usefulness  of  our  academic  festival.  The  ordinary  academic 
exercises  were  not,  of  course,  suspended  during  this  time, 
but  the  lectures  on  topics  of  more  general  interest,  such  as 
Professor  Dowden's  and  Professor  Seth's,  were  so  conve- 
niently scheduled  that  students  and  members  of  the  faculty 
could  hear  them.    The  programme  of  lectures  was  as  follows  : 


18  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

I. 

Four  lectures  by  Joseph  John  Thomson,  Cavendish  Professor  of 
Physics  in  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England.  Subject:  The 
Discharge  of  Electricity  in  Gases.  These  lectures  were  delivered 
in  the  Physical  Lecture-room  of  the  School  of  Science. 

First  lecture:  nine  o'clock  Tuesday  morning,  October  13th. 

Second  lecture:  nine  o'clock  Wednesday  morning,  October  14th. 

Third  lecture :  nine  o'clock  Thursday  morning,  October  1 5th. 

Fourth  lecture:  nine  o'clock  Friday  morning,  October  i6th. 

II. 

Four  lectures  by  Felix  Klein,  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the 
University  of  Gottingen,  Germany.  Subject :  The  Mathematical 
Theory  of  the  Top.  These  colloquia  were  held  in  the  Physical 
Lecture-room  of  the  School  of  Science. 

First  lecture:  eleven  o'clock  Monday  morning,  October  12th. 

Second  lecture:  eleven  o'clock  Tuesday  morning,  October  13th. 

Third  lecture:  eleven  o'clock  Wednesday  morning,  October  14th. 

Fourth  lecture:  eleven  o'clock  Thursday  morning,  October  15th. 

III. 

Six  lectures  by  Edward  Dowden,  Professor  of  English  Liter- 
ature and  Rhetoric  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  Ireland.  Subject: 
The  French  Revolution  and  English  Literature.  These  lectures 
were  delivered  in  Alexander  Hall. 

First  lecture:  three  o'clock  Monday  afternoon,  October  12th. 
The  Revolutionary  Spirit  before  the  Revolution. 

Second  lecture:  three  o'clock  Tuesday  afternoon,  October  13th. 
Theoristsof  the  Revolution :  William  Godwin  and  Mary  Wollstonecraft. 

Third  lecture:  three  o'clock  Wednesday  afternoon,  October  14th. 
Anti-revolution  :   Edmund  Burke. 

Fourth  lecture  :  three  o'clock  Thursday  afternoon,  October  1 5th. 
Early  Revolutionary  group  and  antagonists :  Southey :  Coleridge : 
the  Anti-Jacobin. 

Fifth  lecture:  three  o'clock  Friday  afternoon,  October  i6th. 
Recovery  and  Reaction  :  Wordsworth. 

Sixth  lecture :  three  o'clock  Saturday  afternoon,  October  1 7th. 
Renewed  Revolutionary  Advance :  Byron  :  Moore  :  Shelley. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  19 


IV. 


Two  lectures  by  Andrew  Seth,  Professor  of  Logic  and  Meta- 
physics in  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland.  Subject:  Theism. 
The  lectures  were  delivered  in  Alexander  Hall  at  eleven  o'clock 
Friday  morning,  October  i6th  and  Saturday  morning,  October  17th. 


One  lecture  by  Karl  Brugmann,  Professor  of  Indogermanic  Philol- 
ogy in  the  University  of  Leipzig,  Germany.  Subject :  The  Na- 
ture and  Origin  of  the  Noun  Genders  in  the  Indogermanic  Lan- 
guages (Ueber  Wesen  und  Ursprung  der  Geschlechtsunterscheidung 
bei  den  Nomina  der  indogermanischen  Sprachen).  This  lecture  was 
delivered  in  German  in  the  English  Room,  Dickinson  Hall,  at  half- 
past  ten  o'clock  Monday  morning,  October  19th. 

VI. 

One  lecture  by  A.  A.  W.  Hubrecht,  Professor  of  Zoology  in  the 
University  of  Utrecht,  Holland.  Subject :  The  Descent  of  the  Pri- 
mates. This  lecture  was  delivered  in  the  Geological  Lecture-room 
in  Nassau  Hall  at  twelve  o'clock  noon,  Monday,  October  19th. 

All  the  lectures  were  well  attended.  Representative  men 
of  science  and  letters,  with  students  of  philosophy  and  phi- 
lology, flocked  to  hear  them.  The  American  Mathematical 
Society  held  a  special  meeting  in  Princeton  in  honor  of  Pro- 
fessors Thomson  and  Klein.  Less  formal  gatherings  were 
also  held  in  honor  of  the  other  lecturers.  It  was  a  delightful 
intellectual  week,  full  of  pleasant  incidents  of  a  personal  na- 
ture. Such  were  the  sympathetic  demonstrations  of  appreci- 
ation made  by  the  auditors  from  time  to  time.  Such  were 
the  short  addresses  made  to  the  lecturers  at  the  close,  and 
their  felicitous  responses  thereto.  One  of  these,  of  peculiar 
local  interest,  was  the  preliminary  remarks  of  Professor  Seth 
on  the  many  bonds  that  connect  the  history  of  Princeton  with 
the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and  his  fine  tribute  to  Presi- 
dent McCosh. 


20  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

It  was  with  great  regret  that  the  end  of  these  courses  was 
seen  approaching.  Their  educational  influence  was  unques- 
tionable, and  the  spectacle  they  afforded  gave  some  hint  of 
the  character  of  the  celebration  proper. 

The  First  Day. 

Showers  on  the  i8th  and  19th  had  freshened  the  grass 
and  laid  the  dust,  and  when  the  next  morning  dawned  every 
Princetonian  was  sure  the  sun  shone  upon  no  cleaner,  fairer, 
and  more  radiant  town  in  all  the  world.  The  citizens  of 
Princeton,  both  collectively  through  the  borough  govern- 
ment and  as  individuals,  had  done  their  utmost  to  beautify 
the  streets  and  decorate  the  houses.  The  national  banner 
and  the  Princeton  colors  were  flying  from  flag-poles  and  cor- 
nices. The  horses  in  the  streets  wore  orange  ribbons  in 
their  manes.  The  village  shop-windows  were  abloom  with 
bright  colors.  In  the  gardens  the  beds  of  early  chrysan- 
themums were  coming  into  flower.  Two  white  triumphal 
arches  had  been  erected  on  old  Nassau  street.  One  stood 
at  the  intersection  of  Stockton  and  Nassau.  In  form  it  was 
a  copy  of  the  Arch  of  Trajan.  It  was  national  in  character, 
being  fully  decorated  with  American  flags  and  native  laurel. 
This  arch  was  given  by  the  town  of  Princeton.  On  its 
western  front  was  inscribed 

FROM    THE    TOWN    TO    THE    UNIVERSITY 

and  on  the  eastern  front  appeared  the  motto 

DOMINE    FAC    SALVAM    REMPVBLICAM. 

The  second  arch  was  placed  in  front  of  the  Dean's  House. 
Its  proportions  were  modelled  after  the  Washington  Arch 
in  New  York.  It  was  decorated  with  the  orange  and  black 
banners  of  Princeton,  and  bore  on  its  two  faces  the  mottoes 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  21 

embodying  a  farewell  to  the  old  and  a  greeting  to  the  new. 
The  mottoes  were 

AVE    VALE  COLLEGIVM    NEOCAESARIENSE 
and 

AVE    SALVE    VNIVERSITAS    PRINCETONIENSIS. 

Inside  the  college  fence  spread  the  broad  green  acres 
which  are  Princeton's  pride,  their  gentle  elms  and  tall 
columnar  tulip-trees  all  ablaze  in  soft  but  brilliant  yellow 
and  orange,  the  maples  burning  here  and  there  a  scarlet 
flame,  and  the  Virginia  creepers  clothing  old  walls  with  fes- 
tive purple.  The  centre  for  all  eyes,  like  the  chief  figure  in 
a  drama,  was  the  long,  massive,  and  yet  graceful  pile  of  Nas- 
sau Hall,  shining  dark  in  changeless  ivy  amid  the  brief 
glow  of  autumnal  splendor.  The  students  had  decorated 
their  chamber  windows  and  the  walls  of  their  dormitories 
with  orange  and  black  banners  and  broad  bands  of  bright 
cloth.  It  was  a  general  remark  that  Nature  herself  had 
donned  Princeton  colors.  No  more  brilliant  orange  could 
be  conceived  of  than  the  masses  of  foliage  which  lined  Nas- 
sau, Mercer,  and  Stockton  streets  and  Bayard  Avenue.  The 
broad,  undulating  plain  southward  from  the  Princeton  up- 
lands shimmered  soft  in  the  haze  of  Indian  summer.  The 
view  from  Prospect,  the  President's  House,  was  entrancing: 
a  gentle  landscape  of  rolling  forests  touched  here  and  there 
with  the  white  lines  of  village  spires,  and  lying  fairer  to  the 
eye  because  of  the  dark  evergreens  which  crown  the  ter- 
races of  the  President's  gardens. 

The  avenue  of  venerable  elms  which  is  called  McCosh 
Walk  drew  throngs  of  visitors.  The  Curator  of  Grounds 
and  Buildings  had  spared  no  efforts  to  beautify  the  newer 
portions  of  the  campus  back  of  Dod  Hall  and  Brown  Hall 
and  around  the  Brokaw  Memorial,  and  the  young  turf  was 
fresh  and  full  of  vigor  and  lay  pleasantly  in  open,  verdant 


22  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

slopes.  The  walks  were  neatly  trimmed,  as  they  always 
are;  but  the  grass  on  the  front  campus  looked  a  little  less 
smooth  and  rich  than  usual,  owing  to  the  dry  summer. 
Work  had  already  begun  on  the  new  Library  Quadrangle, 
but  the  materials  of  construction  were  fenced  into  a  restricted 
space.  However,  in  the  midst  of  all  the  new  buildings, 
spreading  from  the  Infirmary  westward,  none  attracted  so 
many  loving  and  admiring  glances  as  the  brown  walls  of 
Nassau  Hall,  of  East  and  West  Colleges,  and  Dickinson, 
covered  all  with  immemorial  green.  The  roads  through  the 
hill  country  north  of  Princeton,  and  those  to  Lawrenceville 
and  Kingston,  were  in  fine  condition;  and  fortunate  indeed 
were  those  guests  who  found  time  to  walk  or  drive  over 
Rocky  Hill,  or  along  the  zigzags  of  Stony  Brook,  or  down 
the  Millstone  River. 

Extensive  arrangements  having  been  made  for  the  enter- 
tainment of  guests,  the  immense  throng  of  people  who 
began  to  arrive  early  on  Tuesday,  October  the  20th,  was 
easily  accommodated.  This  was  effected  by  the  facilities 
afforded  in  the  way  of  frequent  special  trains  on  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad,  between  Princeton  and  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia, and  Trenton,  and  by  the  engagement  of  hotels  in 
Trenton. 

The  official  programme  of  the  three  days  had  now  been 
issued.  Each  day  was  so  arranged  that  the  entire  official 
body  of  delegates,  accompanied  by  the  Princeton  trustees  and 
professors,  was  to  meet  in  the  morning  in  the  same  place  at 
the  same  hour,  and,  after  receiving  any  notices  that  might 
be  opportune,  go  in  academic  procession  to  the  first  event  of 
the  day.  As  a  rule,  only  three  events  were  placed  on  the 
programme  of  any  day,  and  every  event  was  planned  to 
come  within  two  hours  in  duration.  The  programme  was 
as  follows : 


jfirst  H)a? 

ttucsOaB,  ©ctobcr  tbe  ^wenttetb 

©eueral  programme 

IReccptlon  Dag 

ot  tbe 

10.30  a.m. 

♦Academic  Procession  forms 

Princeton 

at  Marquand  Chapel. 

Sesquicentcnnial 

1 1. 00  a.m. 

Celebration 

♦Religious  Service   in  Alex- 

ander Hall. 

TUESDAY 
OCTOBER  THE  TWENTIETH 

WEDNESDAY 
OCTOBER  THE  TWENTY-FIRST 

3.00  p.m. 

•Reception  of  Delegates  in 
Alexander  Hall. 

THURSDAY 
OCTOBER  THE  TWENTY-SECOND 

4.30  p.m. 

♦Presentation  of  Delegates  in 

1896 

the  Chancellor  Green  Library. 

9.00  p.m. 

An  asterisk  (*)  indicates  occasions  at 
which  academic  costume  will  be  used. 

Orchestral  Concert  in  Alex- 
ander Hall. 

Events    indicated    in    brackets    [  ], 

though  not  part  of  the  academic  pro- 
gramme, are    given    for   the    sake    of 

convenience. 

23 


Secon5  Dav? 

IKHcancsDaB,  October  tbc  tTwcntSsfirst 
aiumni  an6  Student  Dag 

10.30  a.m. 

♦Academic  Procession  forms 
at  Marquand  Chapel. 

11.00  a.m. 

*The  Poem  and  Oration  in 
Alexander  Hall. 

2.30  p.m. 

[The  undergraduate  football  teams 
of  the  University  of  Virginia  and 
Princeton  University  will  play  on 
the  University  Athletic  Field.] 

8.30  p.m. 

Torchlight  Procession  and 
Illumination  of  the  Campus. 
The  procession  will  be  re- 
viewed by  the  President  of 
the  United  States. 


XTbirt)  Br's 

JlbursdaB,  October  tbc  a:\vcntB=6Ccon5 
Scsqutccnteimlal  Bnniversarg  Sag 


10.30  a.m. 

♦Academic  Procession  forms 
at  Marquand  Chapel. 

11.00  a.m. 

*The  Sesquicentennial  Cele- 
bration in  Alexander  Hall. 

3=5  p.m. 

Reception  to   the   President 
and  Mrs. Cleveland  atProspect. 

8.00  p.m. 

[Glee  Club   Concert    in    Alexander 
Hall.] 


24 


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with  uniform  closeness,  except  in  the  case  of  the  reli- 
gious service  on  the  first  day,  the  programme  for  which 
is  here  reproduced  as  it  was  actually  carried  out : 


25 


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26 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  27 

The  procession  which  formed  in  Marquand  Chapel  at  half- 
past  ten  on  Tuesday  morning,  and  which  marched  out  two 
and  two  to  wind  across  the  campus  past  Whig  and  Clio 
Halls  to  Alexander  Hall,  was  a  mass  of  brilliant  color,  the 
orange  and  black  hoods  of  Princeton  of  course  predominating. 
Professor  Libbey  marshalled  the  line,  which  was  headed  by 
President  Patton  and  Dean  Fisher  of  the  Yale  Divinity 
School.  Behind  them  came  the  faculty  of  the  Princeton 
Theological  Seminary ;  then  Dean  Murray  and  the  dele- 
gates from  abroad ;  then  the  trustees  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  the  representatives  of  American  universities,  col- 
leges, and  learned  societies,  the  faculty  and  instructors  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey ;  and,  finally,  a  number  of  men 
who  have  won  higher  degrees  from  Princeton.  The  pro- 
cession entered  the  ambulatory  of  Alexander  Hall  at  the 
east  end,  through  an  immense  concourse  of  undergraduates, 
alumni,  and  visitors,  and  proceeded  half  way  around,  and 
passed  through  the  centre  of  the  audience-room,  which  was 
already  half  filled.  President  Patton,  with  the  Princeton 
faculty  and  those  who  were  to  officiate  in  the  service,  took 
seats  upon  the  bema,  and  the  rest  of  the  procession  was 
massed  in  the  orchestra.  At  the  right  of  the  bema  hung 
a  large  white  silk  banner  with  the  new  arms  of  the  univer- 
sity worked  in  orange,  with  the  dates  1746- 1896,  a  gift 
from  the  ladies  of  Princeton.  The  prelude,  on  the  fine 
organ  recently  given  by  Mrs.  Charles  Alexander  of  New 
York,  and  placed  in  the  musicians'  gallery  on  the  left,  was 
played  by  Professor  Dwight  Elmendorf,  of  New  York,  a 
member  of  the  class  of  1882;  and  at  its  close  a  choir 
of  undergraduates  and  alumni  sang  the  anthem  "  Veni 
Creator  Spiritus."  Professor  Fisher,  Dean  of  the  Divinity 
School  of  Yale  University,  in  a  few  solemn  words  in- 
voked the  blessing  of  Almighty  God  upon  the  proceedings 
now  beginning  and  upon  the  future  life  of  Princeton  Uni- 


28  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

versity,  and  the  entire  assembly  sang  the  One  Hundredth 
Psalm. 

Professor  De  Witt,  of  the  Princeton  Theological  Semi- 
nary, read  the  third  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  and  then  President  Patton  preached  the  fol- 
lowing sermon : 

Religion   and   the   University. 

FOR   OTHER   FOUNDATION    CAN   NO  MAN    LAY  THAN   THAT   IS   LAID,   WHICH   IS  JESUS   CHRIST. 

1  Cor.  iii.  II. 

The  first  charter  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  was  signed 
by  John  Hamilton,  "President  of  His  Majesty's  Council," 
on  the  twenty-second  day  of  October,  1746.  A  second 
charter,  still  more  liberal  in  its  provisions,  was  obtained 
from  Governor  Belcher  in  1748. 

It  was  surely  the  day  of  small  things  when  a  little 
company  of  Presbyterians  in  the  city  of  New  York  and 
its  vicinity  interested  themselves  in  establishing  a  seat 
of  learning  in  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  as  a  means 
of  providing  a  liberal  education  for  young  men  intending 
to  enter  the  ministry.  The  ineffectual  efforts  which  they 
had  previously  made,  and  their  ultimate  success,  bear 
striking  testimony  to  the  religious  intolerance  of  the 
times,  the  more  enlightened  policy  of  President  Hamilton 
and  Governor  Belcher,  and  the  liberal  spirit  of  the  foun- 
ders of  the  new  institution,  who,  though  Presbyterians 
by  conviction,  and  actuated,  in  the  main,  by  zeal  for  the 
religious  necessities  of  their  own  church,  accepted  without 
scruple  a  charter  which  gave  no  advantage  to  any  de- 
nomination, and,  beyond  a  scheme  for  liberal  culture, 
made  no  specific  provision  for  the  needs  of  any  profession. 

The  spirit  of  the  founders  has  been  kept  alive  in  their 
successors.  The  interests  of  the  college  have  always 
been  in  the  hands  of  religious  men,  and  of  men,  I  may 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  29 

say,  belonging,  as  a  rule,  to  a  particular  branch  of 
Protestant  Christendom ;  but  it  has  never  been  under 
ecclesiastical  control.  It  has  served  the  Church  and  it 
has  served  the  State  without  in  any  sense  being  under 
the  authority  of  either.  The  founders  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  did  not  establish  a  theological  school  with  a 
preparatory  department  in  arts  ;  they  established  a  Fac- 
ulty of  Arts  with  an  embryonic  department  of  theology. 
There  is  a  great  difference  between  the  two  methods, 
and  this  difference  has  determined  the  course  of  Prince- 
ton's subsequent  development.  The  establishment,  at  a 
later  date,  in  Princeton  of  a  theological  school  under 
ecclesiastical  control  made  it  unnecessary  and  unwise  to 
continue  theological  instruction  in  the  college;  and  from 
that  time  until  now  the  teaching  force  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  has  consisted  of  a  single  University  Faculty 
of  Arts.  Thanks  to  the  liberal  policy  of  her  founders, 
thanks  also  to  the  wise  Christian  spirit  of  those  who 
have  guided  her  course,  Princeton  College,  though  ever 
hospitable  to  new  ideas,  and  ever  ready  to  recognize 
new  truth,  has  throughout  her  history  been  true  to  the 
spirit  of  those  who  founded  her,  and  has  never  had  reason 
to  feel  that  in  any  instance  she  has  violated  her  charter, 
or  been  unfaithful  to  the  moral  obligations  imposed  by 
the  labors  and  benefactions  of  the  Christian  men  who 
have  been  interested  in  her  welfare. 

Considered  in  respect  to  nations  and  periods  that  are 
characterized  by  immobility,  the  lapse  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty  years  is  not  a  matter  that  need  call  for  special  com- 
memoration. But  in  this  country  the  beginning  of  such 
a  period  antedates  the  national  life.  Princeton  shares 
with  her  older  sisters.  Harvard  and  Yale,  the  distinction 
of  a  life  coeval  with  our  national  independence,  and  she 
claims  for  herself  a  distinction,  shared  in  equal  degree  by 


30  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

no  other  institution,  of  being  a  large  factor  in  the  making 
of  the  nation.  Of  the  part  that  Princeton  played  in  the 
Revolutionary  struggle  ;  of  President  Witherspoon,  who 
signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence;  of  the  Prince- 
ton men,  and  particularly  of  Madison  and  Paterson  and 
Oliver  Ellsworth,  who  helped  to  make  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States;  of  the  meeting  of  the  Continental 
Congress  in  this  place  and  under  the  roof  of  Nassau 
Hall,  you  will  in  all  probability  be  told  by  another  speaker 
on  a  later  occasion.  It  is  enough  for  me,  having  men- 
tioned these  names  in  connection  with  the  political  his- 
tory of  the  country,  to  add  to  them  the  names  of  Henry 
and  Guyot  in  science ;  of  Jonathan  Edwards  and  James 
McCosh  in  philosophy ;  of  the  Alexanders  and  Hodges 
in  theology;  and  then  to  ask  if  I  am  making  an  empty 
boast  when  I  say  that  Princeton  has  won  for  herself  a 
conspicuous  place  in  the  intellectual  history  of  America. 
It  has  been  the  aim  of  those  who  have  governed  this 
institution  to  make  and  keep  it  a  Christian  college.  The 
men  who  have  contributed  to  its  endowment  and  ad- 
ministered its  affairs  and  taught  in  its  class-rooms  have 
been  Christian  men.  They  have  been  men  of  deep  con- 
viction regarding  God  and  his  government,  and  they 
have  had  high  ideas  respecting  their  responsibility  for 
the  use  of  time  and  money.  There  is  in  the  history  of 
the  college,  in  what  she  has  done  and  in  what  she  has 
been  saved  from  doing,  in  what  she  has  achieved  and 
in  what  she  has  escaped,  abundant  reason  for  profound 
gratitude.  Filled,  then,  with  these  thoughts  of  the  past, 
and  standing  upon  the  threshold  of  a  new  period  in  the 
history  of  this  institution,  let  us  give  thanks  to  God  for 
the  good  that  has  been  done  in  his  name  by  the  men 
who  have  served  it  and  the  men  who  have  gone  out  from 
it;    and   let  us   pray    that   to  us  upon  whom   devolves 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  31 

the  responsibility  of  opening  a  new  era  in  the  educa- 
tional policy  of  Princeton  there  may  be  granted  that 
wisdom  which  shall  save  us  from  mistakes,  and  that 
grace  which  shall  enable  us  to  use  for  God's  glory  the 
power  and  influence  that  are  given  to  us  by  reason  of 
our  place  in  the  organic  life  of  a  great  institution. 

Our  history,  as  I  cannot  help  believing,  is  also  a  pro- 
phecy. There  has  been  ample  time  in  that  history  for 
the  line  of  tendency  along  which  we  are  likely  to  de- 
velop to  reveal  itself.  For  there  is  an  analogy  between 
the  history  of  an  institution  and  the  growth  of  an  or- 
ganism, and  growth  is  recalcitrant  to  interference  from 
without.  You  may  shape  your  block  of  marble  as  you 
will,  but  you  must  be  content  to  see  the  process  of  self- 
realization  go  on  in  the  organism  according  to  the  logic 
of  its  inner  life.  There  are  universities  that  are  made 
in  obedience  to  the  wills  of  their  founders,  which  have 
no  tradition  to  conserve.  They  are  free  to  shape  their 
policy  in  unhampered  independence  of  the  past.  But  it 
is  not  so  with  us.  We  have  come  to  be  what  we  are 
through  the  slow  growth  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

We  have  our  own  ideas  of  education,  which  are,  in 
part,  the  result  of  our  experience,  and,  in  part,  perhaps, 
an  expression  of  our  conservatism.  We  give  large 
place  in  our  curriculum  to  contemporaneous  know- 
ledge, but  we  are  unwilling  to  part  with  our  modest 
heritage  of  Hellenic  culture.  We  believe  in  special- 
ization, but  we  also  believe  that  the  student  makes  a 
mistake  when,  in  his  haste  to  win  his  spurs  in  some 
narrow  field  of  inquiry,  he  foregoes  the  advantage  of 
a  broad  general  education.  Intellectual  discipline  is 
good,  but  it  is  not  so  important  as  high  manhood  ; 
and,  eager  though  we  may  be  to  turn  out  from  year  to 
year   a   few    men    of    high    intellectual    attainment,    we 


32  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

deem  it  far  more  important  that  the  great  body  of  our 
graduates  should  be  men  of  moral  courage  and  re- 
ligious convictions,  public-spirited,  patriotic,  and  pos- 
sessed of  clear,  balanced,  and  discriminating  judgment 
in  regard  to  public  questions. 

Princeton  has  a  great  work  to  do  in  science,  philosophy, 
and  literature.  I  have  no  doubt  that  she  will  do  it  well, 
I  hope  she  will  continue  to  do  it  under  Christian  rubrics 
without  any  loss  of  moral  initiative  or  religious  faith. 

I  confess  that  I  am  not  without  my  anxieties  when 
I  think  of  the  future  of  our  American  institutions  in 
relation  to  their  religion.  I  see  no  reason  why  I 
should  not  feel  anxiety  in  regard  to  Princeton,  for  we 
cannot  hope  to  escape  altogether  from  the  operation  of 
the  forces  that  are  potent  elsewhere. 

I  feel  inclined  to-day,  speaking  not  to  Princeton  men 
alone,  nor  in  regard  to  Princeton  specifically,  to  employ 
the  time  allotted  to  me  in  considering  the  relation  of 
religion  to  the  university.  I  do  not  know  of  any  sub- 
ject that  could  more  properly  be  considered  in  a  sermon 
addressed  to  an  academic  audience  ;  nor  do  I  know  of 
a  time  when  this  theme  could  be  more  seasonably 
treated  than  that  which  is  given  me  in  connection  with 
these  religious  services  with  which  we  begin  our  Ses- 
quicentennial  Celebration  that  is  designed  to  com- 
memorate the  history  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey 
and  to  inaugurate  Princeton  University. 


I  CANNOT  better  begin  what  I  have  to  say  on  this 
subject  than  by  reminding  you  of  the  fact  that  re- 
ligion—  and  by  that  I  mean,  of  course,  the  Christian 
religion  —  is  the  genetic  antecedent  of  the  university.     It 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  33 

is  true  that  we  cannot  impute  a  distinctively  religious 
origin  to  the  universities  of  Salerno  and  Bologna,  and 
if  we  are  looking  for  an  explanation  that  will  apply 
equally  to  all  the  mediaeval  universities,  we  must  pay 
for  our  comprehensiveness  by  being  correspondingly 
vague ;  and  then  we  can  do  no  better  than  say  with 
Mr.  Rashdall  that  the  rise  of  the  university  is  due  to 
the  spirit  of  association  that  spread  over  Europe  during 
the  middle  ages,  and  that  the  universities  were  simply 
guilds  of  learning.  Even  then,  however,  it  might  be 
worth  while  to  ask  whether  these  guilds,  as  illustrating 
the  fellowship  of  kindred  minds,  did  not  receive  a  new 
impetus  from  Christianity,  which  itself  was  an  expansion 
of  the  idea  of  the  higher  kinship  as  expounded  by  the 
Saviour  when  he  said,  "Whosoever  doeth  the  will  of 
my  Father  in  heaven,  the  same  is  my  mother  and  sister 
and  brother."  But  whatever  be  the  origin  of  the 
Southern  universities,  those  of  the  North  (and  they  are 
the  prototypes  of  our  American  colleges  and  universi- 
ties) were  undoubtedly  the  outgrowth  of  Christianity. 
The  religion  of  Christ  gave  men  new  ideals.  It  turned 
them  from  the  quest  of  pleasure  and  the  love  of  plunder 
to  a  life  of  contemplation  and  the  pursuit  of  knowledge. 
It  made  them  thoughtful,  serious,  and  reverent.  Think- 
ing is  also  religion,  I  believe  Hegel  somewhere  says ; 
and  whether  he  is  right  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  the  man 
who  takes  a  serious  view  of  life  and  has  learned  to  ap- 
preciate the  deep  mystery  of  Being  is  not  far  from  the 
place  of  communion  with  God.  Christianity  popularized 
philosophy.  For  the  Christian's  creed  was  a  meta- 
physic ;  and  the  man  who  had  been  taught  to  believe  in 
Creation,  the  Incarnation,  the  Trinity,  Sin,  and  the 
Atonement  was  obliged  in  the  nature  of  the  case  to 
have  a  very  considerable  theory  of  the  universe.      Many 


34  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

of  US,  I  dare  say,  remember  that  we  took  our  first  lessons 
in  philosophy  in  the  pew,  and  that  we  got  our  first  im- 
pulse to  think  through  the  sermon.  I  believe  it  is 
Stevenson  who  says  that  there  is  "a  hum  of  meta- 
physical divinity  about  the  cradle  of  every  Scot."  There 
can  be  little  doubt,  I  think,  that  the  religious  training  of 
the  Scottish  people  has  had  much  to  do  in  making  them 
the  metaphysical  people  that  they  are.  Christianity  has 
done  for  the  world  what  a  particular  type  of  it  has  done 
in  a  more  marked  way  for  Scotland.  It  has  forced  men 
to  think.  It  has  made  learning  a  necessity  for  all  who 
wish  to  be  intelligently  informed  in  regard  to  religion, 
and  a  particular  necessity  for  those  who  were  the  offi- 
cial expounders  of  Christianity.  The  mediaeval  univer- 
sities were,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy, 
because  they  had  most  need  of  them  and  could  make 
best  use  of  them ;  for  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  if 
to-day  there  are  other  professions  that  require  quite  as 
much  learning  as  the  clerical,  there  was  a  time  when  it 
was  the  only  profession  that  required  any.  If  now,  in 
addition  to  what  has  been  said,  it  be  remembered  that 
Christianity  inculcated  philanthropy  and  high  ideas  re- 
specting the  duties  of  citizenship,  we  shall  see  how 
largely  it  enters  as  a  constitutive  element  in  the 
making  of  the  modern  university. 

The  stages  of  university  history  can  be  roughly  indi- 
cated, though  we  must  not  press  the  idea  of  chronologi- 
cal sequence  too  far.  First  came  the  democratic  guild 
of  scholars  and  masters  devoting  themselves  to  the 
study  of  law  as  in  Bologna,  or  to  scholastic  divinity  as 
in  Paris,  and  living  without  endowments  or  even  fixed 
places  of  abode.  Then  came  the  period  of  endowed 
foundations — and  perhaps  it  would  be  as  well  to  take 
William  of  Wykeham  as  a  typical  example  of  the  great 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  35 

patrons  of  learning,  for  he,  says  Mr.  Rashdall,  "may  be 
allowed  the  credit  of  having  been  the  first  college 
founder  who  required  his  scholars  to  say  their  prayers 
morning  and  evening  and  go  to  chapel  daily."  Then 
in  the  New  World  came  the  colleges  like  those  in  New 
England,  like  Princeton,  like  Lafayette,  like  a  multitude 
besides  in  the  middle  and  western  States,  which  were 
the  direct  outgrowth  of  Christian  philanthropy,  and 
which  were  established  with  the  avowed  purpose  of 
giving  a  liberal  education  from  the  Christian  point  of 
view.  Then  came  the  State  universities,  and,  last  of  all, 
the  triumph  of  Christian  philanthropy  in  the  lavish  use 
of  wealth  on  the  part  of  men  like  John  C.  Green, 
Johns  Hopkins,  Ezra  Cornell,  and  John  Rockefeller,  for 
the  more  complete  equipment  of  existing  institutions  or 
the  establishment  of  new  universities.  Now,  though  the 
circumstances  attending  the  establishment  of  colleges 
and  universities  are  different  in  different  cases,  and 
though  the  religious  motive  in  the  establishment  of 
some  of  the  more  recent  universities  by  private  benefi- 
cence, and  particularly  in  the  establishment  of  univer- 
sities under  control  of  the  State,  is  not  so  manifest  as  in 
the  establishment  of  those  which  are  more  directly 
identified  with  the  religious  interests  of  a  particular  de- 
nomination of  Christians,  I  am  disposed  to  give  Chris- 
tianity credit  for  them  all.  I  have  not  yet  known  of  a 
State  university  where  the  profession  of  atheism  was 
regarded  as  a  desirable  quality  in  a  professor,  and  I 
happen  to  know  of  more  than  one  State  university 
where  a  sympathetic  attitude  toward  revealed  religion  is 
regarded  as  an  essential  qualification  for  a  teacher  of 
philosophy.  I  am  glad  to  have  Princeton  in  that  goodly 
fellowship  of  American  colleges  that  have  been  estab- 
lished   by    Christian  men,    and    have    been    built    upon 


36  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

Christian  foundations.  I  believe  that  these  colleges 
have  done,  and  are  still  doing,  a  work  of  priceless 
value  for  the  Church  and  for  the  State.  And  yet  I 
sometimes  wonder  whether  more  use  might  not  be 
wisely  made  of  the  State  universities ;  whether  a  wise 
economy  of  resources  as  in  the  newer  States  might  not 
suggest  such  an  affiliation  of  various  educational  interests 
as  would  serve  to  throw  around  young  men  a  distinctly 
Christian  influence,  and  at  the  same  time  open  to  them 
the  opportunities  of  a  wide  range  of  study  which  only 
a  large  institution  can  afford  to  offer.  I  recognize  very 
distinctly  the  fact  that  the  ranks  of  the  ministry  have 
been  recruited  very  largely  from  the  smaller  denomina- 
tional colleges,  and  I  must  not  for  a  moment  be  under- 
stood as  in  any  sense  detracting  from  the  immense  ser- 
vices which  those  colleges  have  rendered  and  have  yet  to 
render,  or  as  implying  that  they  deserve  any  but  the 
most  liberal  support  of  the  denominations  to  which  they 
naturally  appeal,  when  I  say  that  at  the  present  day 
it  is  a  matter  of  some  importance  that  a  very  consider- 
able number  of  those  who  enter  the  sacred  calling  should 
be  very  intelligently  informed  in  respect  to  the  questions 
now  involved  in  science  and  philosophy  before  they 
enter  upon  the  professional  study  of  theology ;  and 
that  it  would  be  a  misfortune  if  the  time  should  ever 
come  when  it  would  be  the  strong  men  of  the  weak 
colleges  and  the  weak  men  of  the  strong  colleges  upon 
whom  we  should  mainly  rely  to  fill  up  the  ranks  of  the 
Christian  ministry. 

I  do  not  wish,  however,  to  ignore  the  fact  that 
true  though  it  may  be  that  the  universities  are  in  a  gen- 
eral way  the  off"spring  of  Christianity,  there  are  uni- 
versities (and  Princeton  is  one  of  them)  that  may  be 
regarded  as  distinctly  Christian  institutions.     Still  they 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  37 

are  Christian  rather  in  the  conditions  of  their  origin 
than  in  the  contents  of  their  curricula.  Their  object  is 
not  so  much  to  teach  rehgion  as  to  teach  science  in  a 
rehgious  spirit.  It  is  more  in  the  way  they  teach  than 
in  what  they  teach  that  they  deserve  to  be  called  Chris- 
tian schools.  Hence  a  Christian  college  is  not  to  be 
judged  by  the  amount  of  religion  that  it  teaches,  or 
the  place  it  assigns  to  the  Scriptures  in  its  curriculum. 
In  the  colleges  and  universities  of  which  I  speak,  Chris- 
tianity underlies,  informs,  unifies,  and  is  the  unexpressed 
postulate  of  all  instruction.  And  this  Christian  spirit 
that  practically  affects  teaching  without  announcing  it- 
self, which  presupposes  Christianity  without  any  irri- 
tating self-assertion,  is  on  the  whole  the  most  effective. 
Not  that  it  is  to  be  expected  that  a  Christian  university 
should  be  reticent  in  regard  to  the  truths  of  religion. 
Indeed,  as  I  shall  at  present  be  at  pains  to  show,  it 
cannot  be.  And  so  it  has  come  to  pass  that  the  uni- 
versity has  had  its  share  of  religious  controversy.  Very 
naturally ;  for  when  religion  plants  a  seat  of  learning 
and  installs  a  faculty,  it  clearly  says  that  religion  is  ready 
to  be  tried  by  rational  tests.  The  child  of  the  Chris- 
tian consciousness,  the  university  by  and  by  becomes  its 
critic.  Born  of  Christianity,  the  time  comes  when  it 
attains  its  majority  and  refuses  to  remain  in  ecclesias- 
tical leading-strings.  This  may  seem  ungrateful,  but  it 
cannot  be  helped.  The  necessary  consequence  of  the 
alliance  between  religion  and  the  university  is  the  ra- 
tionalizing of  religion.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  ex- 
tremes of  tendency  are  superstition  on  the  one  hand 
and  infidelity  on  the  other.  Ecclesiasticism  pure  and 
simple  may  easily  run  to  the  one  extreme ;  intellectual- 
ism  pure  and  simple  may  as  easily  run  to  the  other. 
How  to  be  saved  from  either  may  be  difficult;  but  we 


38  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

may  be  sure  that  the  rehgion  which  in  the  last  analysis 
will  not  bear  examination  must  go  down.  Credo  quia 
impossibile  is  not  the  basis  of  a  sound  apologetic;  and 
whether  it  be  Tertullian  or  Mr.  Kidd  who  would  have 
us  think  so,  it  can  never  be  rational  to  believe  in  an 
irrational  religion. 

The  rationalizing  process  may  go  wrong,  but  that  is 
no  reason  why  men  should  stop  thinking;  and  a  univer- 
sity is  a  very  dead  place  if  the  men  in  it  do  not  think. 
When,  therefore,  the  masters  of  the  University  of  Paris 
told  the  Pope  that  on  a  certain  matter  of  dogmatic 
theology  they  were  more  competent  to  speak  than  he 
was,  they  were  doing  exactly  what  they  might  have 
been  expected  to  do,  and  in  doing  this  were  the  pre- 
cursors of  that  movement  which  put  so  many  of  the 
universities  of  northern  Europe  on  the  side  of  Protes- 
tantism and  made  them  the  embodiments  of  the  spirit 
of  religious  independence.  When  I  say  that  the  criticism 
of  religion  in  the  university  is  inevitable,  I  am  not  say- 
ing that  it  is  of  the  essence  of  the  university  that  its 
teachings  should  be  absolutely  free.  I  have  nothing  to 
say  here  by  way  of  objection  to  those  universities  where 
absolute  freedom  of  teaching  is  the  rule.  There  are 
universities,  I  know,  where  that  absolute  freedom  would 
not  be  allowed.  So  far  as  Princeton  is  concerned  I 
find  myself  in  very  agreeable  harmony  with  what  one 
of  my  younger  colleagues  has  said  in  a  recent  periodi- 
cal. "Princeton,"  says  Professor  Daniels,  "is  definitely 
and  irrevocably  committed  to  Christian  ideals.  It  has 
therefore,  with  reference  to  certain  primary  problems, 
already  taken  a  definite  position.  It  stands  for  a  theistic 
metaphysic.  Nor  does  it  claim  or  desire  any  reputa- 
tion for  impartiality  or  open-mindedness  which  is  to  be 
purchased  by  a  sacrifice  of  this  its  traditional  philosophic 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  39 

attitude."  Princeton  then,  as  we  are  told,  "stands  for  a 
theistic  metaphysic."  The  critic  might  say,  if  he  were 
so  disposed,  that  with  equal  reason  it  might  be  made 
to  stand  for  something  less,  or  might  be  made  to  stand 
for  something  more;  and  that  there  is  something  arbi- 
trary about  the  boundary  line  that  separates  the  kingdom 
of  fixed  belief  from  that  of  free  discussion.  Now  I 
venture  to  say  that  the  weight  of  the  sentence  that  I 
have  thought  sufficiently  significant  to  quote  lies  not  so 
much  in  what  Princeton  is  said  to  stand  for  as  in  the 
fact  that  she  is  said  to  stand  for  something;  and  I  can 
easily  believe  that  the  exact  quantiDii  of  belief  for  which 
Princeton  stands  may  be  some  thing  about  which  indi- 
viduals may  now  differ  and  may  vary  from  age  to  age. 
What  Princeton  stands  for  really  depends  upon  those 
who  govern  her.  No  matter  what  our  origin  was; 
what  was  believed  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago; 
what  Christian  symbol  or  legend  we  put  on  the  univer- 
sity seal;  what  moral  obligations  are  imposed  by  gifts 
of  generous  benefactors, —  the  exact  amount  of  religious 
belief  that  this  university  will  stand  for  can  be  deter- 
mined only  by  the  amount  of  belief  that  the  trustees 
have  the  moral  courage  to  enunciate  in  the  form  of  a 
resolution.  That  will  depend  upon  the  state  of  public 
opinion;  the  degree  of  sensitiveness  to  public  opinion  on 
the  part  of  men  who  hold  the  places  of  responsibility; 
and  the  amount  of  strong  conviction  ready  for  expres- 
sion at  any  given  time  by  the  governing  body. 

This  only  shows  how  solemn  the  responsibility  is 
which  rests  upon  the  twenty-seven  men  who  control 
Princeton  University.  They  have  power  to  vote  in  the 
election  of  their  colleagues,  but  no  power  to  direct 
their  votes  after  they  take  office.  We  have  received 
this  institution  from   a  past  generation,  and  we  hold  it 


40  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

with  absolute  power  of  tradition  to  the  next.  We  can- 
not bind  our  successors.  We  may  install  them  with 
due  solemnity  of  precatory  phrase,  but  we  cannot  predict 
or  control  their  action.  The  sacred  interests  of  Prince- 
ton are  in  our  keeping.  We  have  but  a  simple  duty 
respecting  their  transfer  to  the  next  generation.  St. 
Paul  has  expressed  that  duty  in  his  own  words  to  Tim- 
othy: "The  things  which  thou  hast  heard  of  me,  the 
same  commit  thou  to  faithful  men  who  shall  be  able 
to  teach  others  also." 

II 

There  is  another  phase  of  the  subject  with  which  we 
are  dealing.  It  concerns  the  inquiry  as  to  the  extent 
to  which  religion,  and  particularly  the  Christian  religion, 
should  enter  into  the  curriculum  of  the  university.  There 
are  two  extreme  positions  sometimes  taken  by  those  who 
express  themselves  upon  this  question.  There  are  some 
who  seem  to  suppose  that  it  is  proper  and  possible  to 
exclude  all  reference  to  religion,  and  confine  the  work 
of  university  instruction  to  strictly  secular  themes. 
Others,  again,  seem  not  to  realize  the  changed  condi- 
tions of  university  life,  and  suppose  that  it  is  easy  to 
carry  on  through  the  entire  undergraduate  curriculum 
a  scheme  of  enforced  religious  instruction  based  upon 
an  accepted  type  of  thought  in  respect  to  the  Bible  and 
revealed  religion.  I  am  confident  that  a  more  careful 
study  will  show  that  both  of  these  positions  are  wrong; 
and  that  nothing  requires  more  wisdom,  tact,  and  know- 
ledge of  the  actual  conditions  of  thought  in  the  learned 
world  than  the  problem  of  religion  in  the  university.  It 
is  a  very  large  subject,  and  I  question  whether  it  can  be 
adequately  dealt  with  by  any  one  who  is  not  in  actual 
contact  with  undergraduate  life,  and  who  is  not  aware 


^^ 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  41 

of  the  ins  and  outs  of  thought  in  it;  and  who,  moreover, 
is  not  by  reason  of  professional  study  brought  into  close 
relations  with  the  religious  problems  of  the  present  day. 
For  myself,  I  believe  that  in  the  early  years  of  under- 
graduate life  a  course  of  elementary  biblical  instruction, 
adapted  to  the  needs  of  young  men  who  are  no  longer 
school-boys  on  the  one  hand,  and  are  not  yet  students 
of  philosophy  on  the  other,  is  a  most  important  part  of 
the  curriculum ;  but  I  would  not  carry  biblical  instruc- 
tion into  the  upper  years  of  the  curriculum,  unless,  in 
point  of  scientific  thoroughness,  it  could  compare  fa- 
vorably with  the  work  done  in  other  departments  ;  and 
then,  of  course,  I  would  not  make  it  compulsory,  though 
I  firmly  believe  that  advanced  students  in  philosophy 
and  literature  should  have  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
how  the  problems  of  literature  and  philosophy  bear  upon 
the  Bible  and  Christianity.  For  if  secular  themes  are  to 
be  discussed  in  a  Christian  university  in  a  religious  spirit 
and  under  Christian  conceptions,  it  is  no  less  true  that 
religious  themes  must  be  discussed  in  a  scientific  spirit 
and  according  to  scientific  principles.  It  is  impossible 
for  a  university  to  discharge  its  functions  without  de- 
claring itself  upon  the  great  question  of  religion.  The 
subject  no  longer  lies  within  the  easy  possibilities  of 
definition  which  existed  half  a  century  ago.  Then  the 
student  of  Reid  or  Dugald  Stewart  debated  the  question 
of  mediate  or  immediate  perception,  or  accepted  the  easy 
account  of  the  mental  powers  as  they  were  mapped  out 
for  him  in  the  psychology  of  introspection,  and  seldom 
went  any  deeper.  His  religious  faith  was  buttressed  by 
a  course  of  lectures  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity, 
which  treated  as  postulates  what  have  since  become 
some  of  the  most  serious  problems  of  our  times.  There 
were  religious  difficulties  to  be  dealt  with,  but  they  lay, 


42  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

for  the  most  part,  in  a  remote  corner  of  the  field  of  in- 
quiry, and  concerned  questions  hke  the  days  of  Genesis 
and  the  extent  of  the  Deluge.  It  is  otherwise  now;  for 
the  doctrine  of  evolution  has  made  a  great  change  in 
regard  to  the  place  of  religion  in  the  studies  of  the  uni- 
versities. Every  subject  is  considered  from  the  histori- 
cal point  of  view  and  according  to  the  genetic  method ; 
and,  whether  we  approve  of  it  or  not,  the  religious  prob- 
lem is  forced  into  prominence.  A  man  cannot  study 
genetic  psychology  and  metaphysics  and  the  theory  of 
knowledge  at  the  present  day  without  facing  the  prob- 
lem of  a  separate  and  enduring  selfhood,  and  without 
asking  whether  the  world  is  to  be  construed  according 
to  a  theistic  or  a  pantheistic  metaphysic.  It  is  idle  for 
the  theologians  to  attempt,  as  the  Ritschlians  do,  to 
exclude  metaphysics  from  theology ;  but  it  is  just  as 
idle  for  the  philosopher  to  talk  of  excluding  theology 
from  metaphysics;  theology  is  philosophy  and  phil- 
osophy is  theology,  so  far  as  the  question  of  the  rela- 
tion of  God  to  the  world  is  concerned.  All  problems 
in  philosophy  go  back  to  two  questions:  whether  God 
exists  separate  from  the  world,  and  whether  we  exist 
separate  from  God.  The  fate  of  religion  lies  in  the 
answer  to  these  questions.  When,  therefore,  the  stu- 
dent is  wrestling  with  the  problems  of  metaphysics,  he 
is  putting  his  religious  faith  on  trial.  It  is  easy,  then,  to 
see  the  vital  relations  which  the  chair  of  philosophy  sus- 
tains to  practical  Christianity,  and  the  responsibility  that 
one  assumes  when  he  undertakes  to  be  guide,  philos- 
opher, and  friend  to  the  young  man  who  finds  himself 
obliged  to  seek  for  himself  a  fresh  orientation  in  refer- 
ence to  his  religious  belief  Now,  if  one  half  of  our 
religion,  or  what  is  commonly  called  natural  religion,  is 
necessarily   involved  in   the    study    of  philosophy,   the 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  43 

other  half,  or  what  is  known  as  revealed  religion,  is  as 
necessarily  involved  in  the  study  of  history.  We  should 
hardly  think  of  excluding  the  history  of  civilization  from 
the  studies  of  the  university,  yet  it  would  be  difficult,  I 
imagine,  to  treat  the  history  of  institutions  without  refer- 
ence to  Christianity,  or  to  trace  the  history  of  ethical 
ideas  without  mentioning  the  New  Testament,  or  to  write 
the  history  of  opinion  in  respect  to  social  morality  with- 
out regard  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  the  Pauline 
literature.  These  writings  may,  doubtless,  be  referred 
to  without  raising  the  question  of  their  authority;  but 
that  question  must  be  raised  sooner  or  later,  because 
the  question  respecting  authority  is  involved  in  that  of 
origin ;  and  the  question  respecting  the  origin  of  the 
sacred  books  is  involved  in  the  question  respecting  the 
place  of  Christianity  in  the  history  of  the  world;  and 
this  again  is  part  of  the  broader  question  respecting 
the  meaning  and  the  history  of  religion.  Any  theory 
that  undertakes  to  explain  human  history  must  be  ade- 
quate to  give  a  rational  explanation  of  religion.  It  is 
not  merely  because  of  its  practical  importance,  but  also 
because  of  its  persistent  universality,  that  it  has  become 
the  object  of  so  much  interest  to  the  philosopher.  Hence 
it  happens  that  the  most  earnest  students  of  the  phe- 
nomena of  religion  are  not  always  religious  men,  but 
men,  often,  who  are  anxious  to  show  that  their  theories 
which  destroy  the  value  of  religion  are  abundantly  ade- 
quate to  explain  it.  Now,  when  one  enters  upon  the 
study  of  the  history  of  religion,  I  do  not  see  how  he 
can  content  himself  with  the  simple  recognition  of 
Christianity  as  one  of  the  forms  in  which  the  religious 
consciousness  has  been  manifested;  or  how  he  can  avoid 
assuming  some  attitude  in  respect  to  the  exceptional 
claims  that  Christianity  makes  in  its  own  behalf.     He 


44  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

knows  what  attitude  some  of  the  philosophers  are  tak- 
ing. They  are  becoming  constructive  theologians. 
They  are  lecturing  on  Jesus  and  St.  Paul,  and  ex- 
pounding the  ethics  and  metaphysics  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament in  the  interests  of  naturalism.  What  shall  he 
do  ?  Shall  the  agnostic  be  free  to  deny  the  claims  of 
Christianity,  and  he  be  hindered  from  defending  it? 
Now  I  venture  to  say  that  the  philosophical  construc- 
tion of  the  facts  of  Christianity  is  forced  upon  us  by 
the  conditions  of  thought  under  which  we  live  ;  and 
that  there  is  no  subject  wider  in  its  sweep,  more  im- 
perative in  its  claim,  and  more  momentous  in  the  issues 
with  which  it  deals,  than  the  philosophy  of  religion. 
Into  the  making  of  it  go  one's  psychology,  one's  ethic, 
one's  metaphysic,  one's  history,  one's  literary  criticism; 
and  on  it  depend  in  greater  or  less  degree  one's  social 
science,  one's  politics,  one's  jurisprudence,  one's  the- 
ology, one's  religion.  The  day  has  passed  when  re- 
ligion was  regarded  as  something  very  important,  but 
not  very  interesting.  There  are  too  many,  I  fear,  who 
do  not  regard  it  as  important;  but  among  philosophers 
it  is  generally  conceded  to  be  interesting.  No  well- 
appointed  university  can  refrain  from  dealing  with  its 
problems.  For  us  there  can  be  but  one  of  two  posi- 
tions :  we  must  be  silent  and  hand  over  the  discus- 
sion to  the  sceptic,  or  we  must  show  ourselves  worthy 
of  the  high  place  we  have  already  won  in  the  depart- 
ment of  religious  philosophy,  and  take  a  strong  position 
on  the  side  of  historic  Christianity.  There  is  little  doubt 
among  us,  I  think,  respecting  the  attitude  that  Princeton 
should  ever  hold.  Leaving  to  the  theological  schools 
and  to  the  appropriate  ecclesiastical  tribunals  the  dis- 
cussion of  questions  in  divinity  on  which  the  churches 
are  divided,  and  standing  aloof  from  sectarian  contro- 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  45 

versy,  it  is  our  duty  to  hold  ourselves  ready  for  the  de- 
fence of  those  fundamental  truths  in  philosophy  and  in 
religion,  in  the  maintenance  of  which  Christians  of  every 
name  have  a  common  interest.  I  hope  that  Princeton 
will  always  stand  for  belief  in  the  living  God,  the  im- 
mortal self,  an  imperative  morality,  and  the  Divine 
Christ.  On  this  broad  platform  all  the  true  friends  of 
Princeton  can  meet,  and  here  we  must  stand  if  we  would 
be  true  to  the  spirit  of  our  history  and  continue  to  de- 
serve the  confidence  of  Christian  men. 


Ill 

I  TRUST  that  I  have  made  it  clear  that  I  fully  recognize 
the  fact  that  however  true  it  may  be  that  Christian  ideas 
have  been  the  moving  causes  in  the  endowment  of  uni- 
versities and  particularly  of  this,  and  however  much  it 
may  be  proper  and  even  inevitable  that  the  great  fun- 
damental truths  of  Christianity  should  have  place  in 
university  teaching,  the  particular  end  for  which  the 
university  exists  is  not  primarily  the  promotion  of  re- 
ligion. The  university  should  not  be  expected  to  do  the 
work  of  the  Church.  It  has  ends  of  its  own,  and  these 
are  not  distinctively  religious.  And  yet  we  cannot  keep 
religion  altogether  out  of  our  minds  when  we  consider 
these  ends.  Religion  is  indeed,  as  a  little  reflection  will 
show,  necessary  to  the  full  and  satisfactory  realization 
of  the  ends  for  which  the  university  exists ;  and  it  is  in 
this  light  that  I  now  wish  to  regard  it. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  lay  stress  upon  the  mediaeval 
distinction  between  the  university  of  masters  and  the 
university  of  scholars  for  the  purpose  of  settling  ques- 
tions of  precedence  or  of  determining  the  relations  they 
sustain  to  each  other.     It  would   hardly  be  denied  on 


46  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

the  one  hand  that  the  professor's  business  is  to  teach; 
and  it  would  be  pretty  generally  conceded  on  the  other 
that  more  is  expected  of  him  than  the  discharge  of  his 
pedagogic  functions.  But  the  distinction  I  have  referred 
to  will  serve  a  good  purpose  if  it  reminds  us  that  the 
professors  of  a  university  sustain  a  relation  to  the  general 
public  apart  from  the  relation  they  sustain  to  the  stu- 
dents who  listen  to  their  instruction.  They  constitute 
the  priesthood  of  learning,  and  are  set  apart  for  the 
service  of  truth.  Besides  training  young  men  for  the  ac- 
tive duties  of  life,  it  may  be  fairly  expected  of  them  that 
they  should  enlarge  the  borders  of  knowledge  and  con- 
tribute substantially  to  the  formation  of  a  sound  public 
opinion.  These,  indeed,  I  take  it,  are  the  three  great 
functions  of  the  university.  The  institution  that  is  not 
doing  something  in  each  of  these  directions  is  not  accom- 
plishing the  work  it  was  intended  to  do ;  and  for  the 
successful  accomplishment  of  this  work  a  reverent  atti- 
tude toward  religion  and  a  certain  amount  of  religious 
faith  would  seem  to  be  a  logical  necessity. 

I  lay  stress  upon  that  side  of  the  professor's  life  which 
relates  him  to  the  general  public,  for  the  non-academic 
consciousness  does  not  always  properly  apprehend  it. 
The  professor  would  not  think  that  his  calling  were 
possessed  of  so  much  inherent  dignity  if  he  regarded 
himself  simply  as  the  means  of  imparting  to  a  body  of 
mediocre  and  often  very  idle  young  men  the  modest 
amount  of  knowledge  that  they  acquire  during  a  college 
course ;  and  he  would  particularly  resent  the  crude 
Philistinism  that  regards  him  simply  in  the  light  of  an 
employe.  The  dignity  of  the  professor's  calling  can  be 
maintained  only  by  regarding  the  incumbent  of  this  office 
as  holding  a  commission  as  an  independent  seeker  after 
truth.     There  is  something  fascinating  in  such  a  life. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  4T 

In  its  fine  scorn  of  material  things,  in  its  dignified  and 
independent  simplicity,  there  is  surely  something  to  ad- 
mire. We  cannot  help  feeling,  it  is  true,  that  intellec- 
tual labor  is  sometimes  wasted  on  very  unimportant 
matters ;  and  that  much  of  what  was  never  known 
before  is  not  worth  knowing ;  and  that  original  re- 
search so  often  means  only  infinite  pains  for  the  gather- 
ing of  facts  that  involve  no  theory  and  help  no  generali- 
zation and  apparently  serve  no  other  purpose  than  to 
verify  the  statement  that  of  making  many  books  there 
is  no  end,  and  that  much  study  is  a  weariness  of  the 
flesh.  Then,  too,  we  find  it  hard  sometimes  to  bear 
the  great  man's  arrogance  and  conceit ;  and  it  disap- 
points us  to  see  him  enter  the  world's  market  and  sell 
his  rash  judgments  and  crude  novelties  for  such  poor 
price  of  place  or  fame  as  the  world  will  give.  But,  after 
all,  the  marvel  is  that  the  appetite  for  learning  and  the 
zest  with  which  men  engage  in  intellectual  toil  should  be 
so  enduring.  I  particularly  wonder  at  the  intellectual 
earnestness  of  men  who  have  discarded  all  religious  be- 
lief. They  seem  to  be  so  inconsistent  and  illogical ; 
they  especially  impress  me  so  when  they  employ  their 
energies  in  seeking  to  destroy  the  world's  faith  in  God, 
for  they  seem  to  be  undermining  their  own  career  and 
leaving  it  without  a  reason.  For  on  the  supposition 
that  the  world  is  a  system  of  thought-relations  there  is 
something  natural  in  man's  persistent  effort  to  explain 
his  habitat  and  give  an  account  of  himself.  For  whether 
God  be  our  unreached  goal  of  endeavor,  the  ideal  Good, 
the  infinite  Knower  in  front  of  us,  above  and  beyond ;  or 
whether  it  be  that  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  gives 
man  understanding,  so  that  he  is  the  master  light  of  all 
our  seeing:  in  either  case  there  is  a  religious  element  in 
all  inquiry;  there  is  something  that  partakes  almost  of  a 


48  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

religious  act  in  every  serious  effort  to  understand  the 
world ;  there  is  something  almost  sacramental  in  the 
apprehension  of  a  great  idea  which  at  the  same  moment 
interprets  the  world  and  brings  the  mind  into  fellow- 
ship with  God.  I  believe  that  the  indwelling  Spirit  of 
God  is  the  source  of  our  curiosity;  that  our  restless 
seeking  after  the  right  understanding  of  the  world  is 
one  of  the  ways  in  which  God  reveals  himself;  that  the 
religious  nature  of  man  is  the  key  to  his  intellectual  ac- 
tivity and  the  basis  of  even  his  irreligious  zeal ;  that  if 
there  were  no  God  and  no  fellowship  between  God  and 
man,  if  all  that  is  were  explicable  in  the  terms  of  matter 
and  motion,  there  could  be  no  ideals  and  no  intellectual 
ambition ;  that  if  man  should  lose  his  faith  in  God,  he 
would  lose  his  love  of  truth;  and  that  the  death  of  re- 
ligion would  be  the  death  of  intellectual  endeavor. 

There  is  another  work  which  the  university  ought  to 
perform.  It  should  contribute  toward  the  forming  of  a 
sound  public  opinion.  In  a  broad  and  far-reaching  sense 
it  should  teach  patriotism.  There  is,  I  grant,  a  great  deal 
to  justify  the  confidence  with  which  we  rest  in  the  sober 
second  thought  of  the  nation,  and  the  optimism  which 
makes  us  feel  that  the  common  sense  of  the  American 
people  is  equal  to  any  emergency.  The  essential  moral- 
ity of  the  people  of  our  land,  as  it  finds  expression  in 
the  pulpit  and  the  press,  is  a  great  source  of  comfort  in 
a  time  of  national  peril.  And  yet  when  fundamental 
morality  is  assailed,  when  revolutionary  views  of  gov- 
ernment are  publicly  expounded,  when  socialistic  the- 
ories find  plausible  advocates,  it  will  not  do  to  rely 
altogether  upon  popular  sentiment  or  the  common  sense 
of  the  American  people.  We  must  do  something  to  keep 
this  common  sense  from  being  corrupted,  and  this  must 
consist  of  something  more  than  popular  harangue  and 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  49 

the  florid  iteration  of  the  commonplaces  of  morahty. 
There  must  be  deep  philosophical  discussion  of  great 
public  questions  by  men  of  acknowledged  authority  in 
political,  social,  and  economic  science.  This  work  can 
be  done  better  in  the  universities  than  anywhere  else. 
This  is  what  I  mean  when  I  say  that  the  university 
should  be  a  school  of  patriotism.  Of  a  certain  type 
of  patriotism  there  is  no  lack.  We  may  trust  the  in- 
stincts of  our  people,  without  any  help  from  academic 
sources,  to  resist  foreign  interference  and  defend  na- 
tional honor.  We  understand  without  being:  reminded 
of  it  that  this  land  is  our  heritage  and  that  this  w^estern 
civilization  is  our  problem.  But  the  day  is  past  when 
national  pride  and  patriotic  devotion  can  be  best  ex- 
hibited by  awakening  the  memories  of  international 
antagonism.  We  are  in  no  danger  of  invasion.  Our 
foes  are  those  of  our  own  household.  Our  difticulties 
are  those  which  we  share  with  other  nations.  They  are 
evils  incident  to  the  struggle  for  the  democratization  of 
government,  or  that  are  consequent  on  its  rapid  devel- 
opment; that  follow  as  a  consequence  of  the  congested 
life  of  great  cities,  or  grow  out  of  the  complicated  ma- 
chinery of  industrialism.  We  who  believe  in  the  sta- 
bility of  government  as  an  ordinance  of  God  should 
stand  by  each  other  in  all  civilized  lands  on  account  of 
the  dangers  common  to  all.  I  believe  that  the  uni- 
versities have  something  to  do  toward  helping  on  the 
cause  of  good  feeling  between  the  nations,  and  particu- 
larly between  those  two  nations  that  are  so  closely 
bound  to  each  other  by  the  ties  of  blood,  the  bonds  of  a 
common  speech,  a  common  law,  and  a  common  religion. 
Part  of  the  history  that  we  commemorate  and  of  which 
we  are  proud  is  the  place  that  Princeton  took  in  the 
struggle  for  independence  against  the  mother-land.    And 


50  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

now  I  trust  that  Princeton,  as  she  enters  upon  a  new  era 
in  her  history,  will  do  her  part  toward  the  formation 
of  a  public  sentiment  that  shall  make  it  impossible  for  the 
clash  of  arms  ever  to  be  heard  again  between  the  two 
great  nations  of  the  English-speaking  world.  I  hope 
that  she  will  do  something  to  stimulate  the  develop- 
ment of  the  international  conscience,  to  widen  the  range 
of  international  law,  and  to  hasten  the  day  when  in- 
ternational disputes  shall  be  settled  by  arbitration. 
International  law  rests  on  a  basis  of  morality.  It  is 
essentially  a  university  study,  and  I  should  like  to  see 
Princeton  take  a  high  place  in  connection  with  its 
development. 

But,  as  I  have  already  implied,  the  questions  which 
give  us  most  cause  for  anxiety  are  national,  and  not  in- 
ternational. The  question  with  us  is  whether  the  popu- 
lar will  is  still  on  the  side  of  constitutional  government; 
whether  the  public  conscience  will  stand  by  the  financial 
integrity  of  the  nation;  whether  great  cities  can  have 
good  government;  and  whether  the  ten  commandments 
shall  continue  to  regulate  social  behavior.  It  is  true 
that  a  campaign  of  education  is  needed.  But  it  is  an 
education  beyond  that  which  the  statistician  and  the 
collector  of  facts  can  give  us.  It  is  an  education  beyond 
that  which  appeals  to  our  selfish  greed.  It  must  be  an 
education  which  goes  to  the  roots  of  our  moral  life. 
For  purposes  of  convenience  you  may  entrust  the  sci- 
ence of  ethics  to  one  man,  and  of  politics  to  another,  and 
of  jurisprudence  to  a  third.  The  economist  may  study 
the  laws  of  industrial  activity,  and  the  student  of  social 
science  deal  with  the  pathological  conditions  of  society 
—  the  poverty,  the  moral  pollution,  the  crime;  but  when 
we  come  to  ask  whether  the  remedy  is  to  be  found  in 
laisser  faire,  or  the  interference  of  the  state,  or  in  moral 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  51 

measures,  we  shall  find  that  no  department  is  isolated 
and  distinct;  that  our  metaphysics,  our  ethics,  our  juris- 
prudence, our  economics,  our  politics,  our  social  sci- 
ence, all  overlap  each  other;  that  all  are  comprehended 
in  the  one  idea  that  we  live  in  a  moral  universe.  I 
do  not  like  the  phrase  Christian  socialism,  and  I  cer- 
tainly do  not  agree  with  the  opinion  entertained  by 
those  who  use  it  most.  But  if  Christianity  is  true,  we 
cannot  afford  to  ignore  what  it  has  to  say;  and  there 
can  be  no  sound  public  opinion  upon  these  great  ethical 
problems  which  does  not  make  acknowledgment  of  the 
binding  obligations  of  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
But  there  is  another  work  which  the  university  is 
expected  to  do;  and  this,  though  it  does  not  so  com- 
pletely fill  the  imagination  of  the  ambitious  professor 
who  dreams  of  fame,  is  nevertheless  the  greatest  work 
which  it  can  do.  It  is  the  province  of  the  university  to 
train  men,  by  means  of  a  liberal  education,  for  the  active 
duties  of  life.  It  is  given  only  to  a  few  to  add  to  the 
world's  stock  of  knowledge;  it  is  only  at  rare  intervals 
that  we  shall  succeed  in  turning  out  a  great  thinker  who 
will  make  his  mark  upon  his  age.  But  our  colleges  and 
universities  are  contributing  every  year  to  the  moral  and 
intellectual  forces  of  the  world  a  body  of  young  men 
whose  aggregate  influence  is  enormous.  It  would  be 
a  mistake  if  we  should  ever  come  to  undervalue  this 
work  in  Princeton  or  assign  it  a  second  place.  There 
may  easily  be  too  many  men  engaged  in  the  special 
work  of  the  scholar;  there  are  only  limited  opportun- 
ities for  a  career  in  science;  but  there  is  an  unlimited 
demand  for  men  who  can  bring  to  the  discharge  of  the 
ordinary  duties  of  citizenship  the  advantages  of  a  liberal 
education.  The  best  work  of  Princeton  is  represented 
to-day  in  her  3916  living  graduates.     They  are  our  let- 


52  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

ters  of  commendation.  It  is  of  course  not  to  be  ex- 
pected of  the  average  graduate  that  he  should  be  a 
technical  scholar.  But  we  have  done  something  if  we 
have  opened  the  eyes  of  his  understanding,  that  he  may 
know  what  the  world  of  thought  and  learning  means. 
We  have  done  something  if  we  have  helped  him  so  to 
widen  the  area  of  his  selfhood  and  adjust  it  to  the 
world  he  lives  in  that  he  can  enter  into  appreciative 
relationship  with  the  true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good. 
We  have  done  something  if  we  have  so  impressed  his 
moral  nature  that  he  is  able  to  have  worthy  ideals  in 
regard  to  his  own  life,  and  a  comprehensive  sense  of  the 
duties  of  citizenship.  We  have  rendered  no  small  ser- 
vice to  the  world  if  as  the  result  of  our  work  the  men 
who  go  out  from  our  halls  are  so  appreciative  of  what- 
soever things  are  true,  whatsoever  things  are  honest, 
whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure, 
whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report,  that  they  will 
think  on  these  things.  It  needs  no  argument  to  show 
that  the  complete  man  is  he  whose  culture  culminates 
in  religion.  The  utilitarian  view  of  education,  which 
regards  it  as  a  means  to  an  end,  is  not  to  be  despised. 
I  should  not  be  so  unpractical  as  to  overlook  the  fact 
that  education  helps  a  man  to  make  a  place  in  the  world, 
to  win  fortune,  fame,  and  power.  But  a  large  place 
must  be  given  to  religion  in  the  profit  and  loss  account 
of  life ;  for  what  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole 
world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  University  men  are  in 
an  ever  increasing  degree  to  be  the  influential  men  in 
this  nation.  These  are  the  men  to  whom  we  must  look 
to  be  the  standard-bearers  of  a  high  morality,  to  set  an 
example  of  unselfish  living  for  worthy  ends;  and  that 
their  influence  may  be  good  in  the  ratio  that  it  is 
great,  it  is  necessary  that  their  moral  and  religious  na- 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  53 

tures  shall  be  trained  as  well  as  their  intellectual  powers. 
We  might  well  feel  discouraged  if  the  educated  men 
of  this  land  should  cease  to  be  religious.  And  if  the 
graduates  of  our  universities  should  turn  their  backs 
upon  the  religion  of  their  fathers,  we  might  well  exclaim: 
"  If  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness,  how  great  is  that 
darkness! " 

IV 

This  leads  me  to  say,  in  a  closing  word,  that  the  re- 
ligious thought  of  the  university  must  inevitably  affect 
the    popular   religion.     University  men    set   the   intel- 
lectual fashion  of  the  day  in  religion  as  in  other  things. 
I  do  not  mean  by  this,  of  course,  that  religion  will  hold 
its  own  by  the  grace  of  university  authorities,  any  more 
than  I  believe  that  God  depends  on  the  good-will  of 
the  philosophers  for  the  popular  recognition  of  his  au- 
thority.     Believing  as  I  do  in  revealed  religion,   I  do 
not  believe  that  it  will  be  destroyed  by  the  labors  of  a 
few  professors  of  historical  and  literary  criticism.     But 
there  may  be,  as  there  have  been,  times  of  religious  de- 
clension and  relative  loss  of  faith.     And  it  is  a  matter 
of  great  moment  to  religion  whether  or  no  the  intel- 
lectual  atmosphere    in   the   university    is    favorable    to 
serious  religious  thought.     I   should  like  to  see  a  less 
absorbing  interest   in   sport  and  a  more   serious  intel- 
lectual tone.     I  would  not  cut  off  social  pleasure  from 
university  life;  but  I  would  not  have  a  university  career 
degenerate   into    a   period    of   indolent   enjoyment.       I 
would  not  take  life  too  seriously ;  but  I  would  not  make 
it  a  jest.     There  is  reason  to  fear  that  men  may  become 
sceptics,  but  there  is  more  reason  to  fear  that  they  will 
lapse  into  indifference.     There    is    a    one-sided  culture 
that  may  prove  itself  the  enemy  of  all  that  is  deepest  and 


54  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

best  in  our  nature.  There  is  a  type  of  Hellenism  that 
ends  in  a  pagan  rehabilitation  of  the  flesh,  where  the 
sensuous  love  of  beauty  slides  easily  into  sensual  dis- 
regard of  morals.  There  is  a  scientific  devotion  to 
material  facts  which  may  end  in  the  atrophy  of  the  finer 
elements  of  our  spiritual  nature,  and  so  affect  our  poetry, 
our  sentiment,  our  hope,  our  trust  in  the  Father  in 
heaven.  These  are  tendencies  in  university  life  that 
awaken  anxiety  in  thoughtful  minds. 

And  yet  I  do  not  think  that  the  religious  influence 
of  the  university  is  only,  or  even  chiefly,  negative. 
From  the  time  of  Wickliffe  in  Oxford  and  Huss  in 
Prague  until  the  present  day,  the  universities  have  been 
centres  of  religious  movements.  We  have  had  Puri- 
tanism and  Rationalism  and  Sacramentarianism.  Chris- 
tianity has  been  attacked  and  it  has  been  defended  by 
university  men.  There  have  been  periods  of  negative 
theology  and  periods  of  apologetic.  And  with  the 
thought  of  the  day  on  all  questions  centring  in  and  in- 
volving religious  problems,  one  cannot  help  believing 
that  the  university  will  soon  be  the  centre  of  another  re- 
ligious movement.  It  will  not  be  patristic  and  it  will 
not  be  Puritan  in  form  ;  but  it  must  be  constructive. 
It  will  attempt  the  synthesis  of  modern  thought  in  his- 
tory, philosophy,  and  criticism  in  reference  to  the  prob- 
lem of  Christianity.  The  process  may  not  go  on  as 
we  could  wish,  and  there  may  not  go  into  it  all  that 
we  could  desire ;  but  the  work  will  proceed  upon  the 
basis  of  the  written  Word  and  the  Word  made  flesh. 
The  Logos  will  be  the  key  to  our  metaphysic,  our  his- 
tory, our  social  philosophy,  our  theory  of  life.  The 
men  who  engage  in  this  work  will  rebuild  the  edifice  of 
faith  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets, 
Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone.     I  do 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  55 

not  know  what  part  Princeton  will  have  in  this  religious 
movement  which  —  dare  I  prophesy  it? — may  open 
the  twentieth  century.  It  would  be  strange  if  she 
should  have  none.  The  fathers  of  this  institution  have 
laid  the  foundations  deep  and  strong.  It  is  ours  to  build 
thereon.  Let  us  take  heed  how  we  build  thereupon. 
Let  us  especially  be  careful  not  to  undo  the  work  al- 
ready done:  for  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than 
that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ. 

But  whatever  be  our  place  in  the  sphere  of  religious 
philosophy,  let  us  hope  and  pray  that  in  the  sphere  of 
practical  religious  life  Princeton  may  keep  the  place 
she  has  always  held.  No  part  of  our  work  is  more 
important  than  that  which  addresses  itself  to  the  devo- 
tional side  of  our  nature  and  that  centres  in  our  chapel 
services.  There  have  been  in  past  days  great  seasons 
of  religious  awakening  in  this  college.  I  pray  God 
that  times  of  refreshing  may  come  again.  There  has 
always  been  here  a  body  of  earnest,  spiritually  minded 
men;  there  were  never  more  than  there  are  to-day. 
Christianity,  as  we  understand  it,  is  more  than  a  series 
of  precepts:  it  is  a  way  of  salvation.  We  preach  Christ 
Jesus,  and  him  crucified.  We  believe  that  he  is  the 
propitiation  for  our  sins,  and  that  we  have  redemption 
through  his  blood.  Through  all  the  hundred  and  fifty 
years  of  the  history  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  this 
message  has  been  faithfully  proclaimed  in  her  pulpit; 
and  it  is  the  earnest  prayer  of  all  who  love  her  best, 
and  have  served  her  most,  that  the  day  may  never 
come  when  it  can  be  said  of  those  who  hold  high 
place  in  Princeton  University  that  they  are  ashamed 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 


56  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

After  the  sermon,  which  was  Hstened  to  throughout  with 
close  attention,  particularly  in  the  passages  which  appealed 
for  Christian  relations  between  the  two  great  branches  of 
the  English-speaking  race,  and  which  met  with  immediate 
response  from  the  entire  audience,  a  prayer  was  offered  by 
Dean  Murray,  and  the  hymn  "  Ein'  feste  Burg  ist  unser 
Gott"  was  sung.  The  Rev.  Dr.  W.  B.  Bodine,  of  Phila- 
delphia, pronounced  the  benediction. 

When  the  service  was  concluded  the  official  body  of  dele- 
gates, trustees,  and  professors  was  entertained  at  luncheon 
by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  E.  Green.  The  less  formal  round 
of  teas,  dinners,  and  luncheons  of  the  preceding  week  now 
began  to  take  on  more  of  the  character  of  academic  func- 
tions. Of  these  the  chief  were  the  President's  dinners,  the 
luncheons  and  teas  provided  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Green,  the 
dinners  and  luncheons  of  several  professors  and  trustees  — 
all  ending,  on  the  third  day  of  the  feast,  with  the  luncheon 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  Mrs.  Cleveland, 
and  the  farewell  dinner  to  the  delegates. 

The  delegates  from  other  institutions  and  from  learned 
societies  were  formally  received,  at  three  o'clock  on  Tues- 
day afternoon,  in  Alexander  Hall.  Upon  this  occasion  the 
delegates  from  abroad,  and  the  presidents,  provosts,  and 
deans  of  American  universities,  occupied  the  platform,  the 
other  delegates  being  seated,  with  the  faculty  and  trustees 
of  Princeton  University,  in  the  orchestra,  while  the  rest  of 
the  house  was  open,  by  ticket,  to  the  public.  The  delegates 
and  the  institutions  they  represented  were : 

The  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  Boston. 

Hon.  William  Everett. 

American  Philosophical  Society,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Hoti.  J.  Craig  Biddle,  '^i. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  57 

American  University,  Washington. 

Chancellor  John  Fletcher  Htirst. 

Amherst  College,  Massachusetts. 

President  Merrill  Edwards  Gates. 

Andover  Theological  Seminary,  Massachusetts. 

President  Egbert  Coffin  Sfuyth. 

University  of  Athens,  Greece. 

Hon.  Dimitrius  Botassi, 

Constil-General  of  the  Kingdom  of  Greece,  New  York. 

Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  New  York. 

Professor  Henry  Matthias  Booth. 

Bangor  Theological  Seminary,  Maine. 

President  George  W.  Gilmore,  '8j. 

The  Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  New  York. 

Professor  William  T.  Ljisk. 

Bowdoin  College,  Maine. 

President  William  De  Witt  Hyde. 

Brown  University,  Rhode  Island. 

Professor  Albert  Harkness. 

The  Bucknell  University,  Pennsylvania. 

President  John  Howard  Harris. 

University  of  California,  California. 

Professor  Joseph  LeConte. 

University  of  Cambridge,  England. 

Professor  Joseph  Jo  Jin  Thomso7i. 

The  Catholic  University  of  America,  Washington. 

Professor  F.  Hy vernal. 

The  Central  University  of  Kentucky,  Kentucky. 

Chancellor  L.  H.  Blanton. 


58  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

The  University  of  Chicago,  Illinois. 

President  William  Rainey  Harper. 

The  University  of  the  City  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Professor  Thomas  Herbert  Norton. 

Clark  University,  Massachusetts. 

President  G.  Stanley  Hall. 

College  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 

President  Henry  E.  Shepherd, 

Columbia  University,  New  York. 

President  Seth  Low. 

Columbian  University,  Washington. 

President  B.  L.  Whitman. 

Cornell  University,  New  York. 

President  Jacob  Gould  Schurman. 

Dalhousie  University,  Nova  Scotia. 

President  John  Forrest. 

Dartmouth  College,  New  Hampshire. 

President  William  J.  T2icker. 

Drew  Theological  Seminary,  New  Jersey. 

President  Henry  A.  Buttz. 

University  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland. 

Professor  A  ndrew  Seth. 

The  College  of  Emporia,  Kansas. 

President  J.  D.  Hewitt. 

Erskine  College,  South  Carolina. 

Professor  J.  I.  McCain. 

Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  Pennsylvania. 

President  John  S.  Stahr. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  59 

Georgetown  University,  District  of  Columbia. 

President  Joseph  Havens  Richards,  S.  J. 

University  of  Gottingen,  Germany. 

Professor  Felix  Klein. 

University  of  Halle,  Germany. 

Professor  Johamics  Conrad. 

Hamilton  College,  New  York. 

Dean  A.  G.  Hopkins. 

The  College  of  Hampden  Sidney,  Virginia. 

Professor  Walter  Blair. 

Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  Connecticut. 

President  Chester  D.  Hartranft. 

Harvard  University,  Massachusetts. 

President  Charles  William  Eliot, 
Professor  George  Lincoln  Goodale,  . 
Professor  William  James, 

Hobart  College,  New  York. 

Dealt  W.  Pitt  Durfee. 

The  Jefferson  Medical  College,  Pennsylvania. 

Professor  James  C.   Wilson. 

The  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Maryland. 

President  Daniel  Coit  Gilman. 

The  University  of  Kansas,  Kansas. 

Chancellor  Francis  H.  Snow. 

Kenyon  College,  Ohio. 

Professor  William  F.  Peirce. 

Knox  College,  Canada. 

Principal  William  Caven. 


60  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Lafayette  College,  Pennsylvania. 

President  Ethclbert  Dudley  Warjield,  '82. 

The  Lake  Forest  University,  Illinois. 

Mr.  Cyrtis  Hall  McCormick,  'yg. 

Lane  Theological  Seminary,  Ohio. 

Professor  Kemper  Fullerton,  '88. 

Lehigh  University,  Pennsylvania. 

Presidetit  Thomas  Messinger  Drown. 

University  of  Leipzig,  Germany. 

Professor  Karl  Brugmann. 

Lincoln  University,  Pennsylvania. 

President  Isaac  N.  Kendall. 

University  of  London,  England. 

Professor  Joseph  John  Thomson. 

McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  Illinois. 

Professor  A .  C.  Zenos. 

McGill  University,  Canada. 

Principal  William  Peterson. 

The  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  Massachusetts. 

President  Francis  A.    Walker. 

The  University  of  Michigan,  Michigan. 

President  James  Burrill  Angell. 

The  University  of  Minnesota,  Minnesota. 

President  Cyrus  Northrup. 

University  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  Missouri. 

President  Richard  H.  Jesse. 

Muhlenberg  College,  Pennsylvania. 

President  Theodore  L.  Seip. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  61 

National  Academy  of  Sciences,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Professor  John  Trowbridge, 

of  Harvard  University. 

Professor  Charles  Augustus  Young, 

of  Princeton  University, 

University  of  Nebraska,  Nebraska. 

Chancellor  George  E.  MacLean. 

New  York  Law  School,  New  York. 

Dean  George  Chase. 

The  University  of  North  Carolina,  North  Carolina. 

President  E.  A.  Alderman. 

Northwestern  University,  Illinois. 

President  Henry  Wade  Rogers. 

Oberlin  College,  Ohio. 

Professor  G.  Frederick  Wright. 

Ohio  State  University,  Ohio. 

Hon.  D.  M.  Massie,  'So. 

University  of  Oxford,  England. 

Professor  Goldwin  Smith, 

of  Toronto. 

Professor  Edward  Bagnall  Poultofi. 

University  of  Paris,  France. 

Professor  Henri  Moissan. 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  Pennsylvania. 

Provost  Charles  Cnstis  Harrison. 

Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary,  South  Carolina. 

Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  S.  Laws. 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  New  Jersey. 

Professor  William  Henry  Green. 


62  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Queen's  College  and  University,  Canada. 

Chancellor  Sandford  Fleming. 

Randolph  Macon  College,  Virginia. 

President  W.   W.  Smith. 

Roanoke  College,  Virginia. 

President  Julius  D.  Dreher. 

Robert  College,  Constantinople,  Turkey. 

Professor  Charles  Anderson. 

The  Royal  Society,  London,  England. 

Professor  Joseph  John  Thomson. 

Rutgers  College,  New  Jersey. 

President  Atistin  Scott. 

University  of  St.  Andrews,  Scotland. 

Principal  William  Peterson^ 

of  McGill  College  and  University. 

San  Francisco  Seminary,  California. 

Professor  William  Alexander. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution,  Washington. 

Professor  Samuel  Pierpont  Langlcy, 

Secretary  Smithsonian  Institution. 

South  Carolina  College,  South  Carolina. 

President  James  Woodrow. 

Southwestern  Presbyterian  University,  Tennessee. 

Professor  James  Adair  Lyon,  'j2. 

Swarthmore  College,  Pennsylvania. 

President  Charles  DeGarmo. 

Syrian  Protestant  College,  Syria. 

President  Daniel  Bliss. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  63 

University  of  Texas,  Texas. 

Professor  George  Bruce  Halsied,  '75. 

University  of  Toronto,  Canada. 

Presidefit  James  Lotidon. 

Trinity  College,  Dublin,  Ireland. 

Professor  Robert  Yelvcrton  Tyrrell* 
Professor  Edward  Dow  den. 

Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York. 

President  Thomas  Samuel  Hastings. 

Union  University,  New  York. 

President  Andrew  Van  Vranken  Raymond. 

The  United  States  Military  Academy,  West  Point. 
Colonel  Peter  S.  Michie,  U.  S.  A. 

United  States  Naval  Academy,  Annapolis. 

Comma7ider  Edwin   White,  U.  S.  JV. 

University  of  Utrecht,  Holland. 

Professor  Arnold  Ambi'osius  Willcni  Hiibrecht. 

Vanderbilt  University,  Tennessee. 

Professor  William  L.  Dudley. 

University  of  Vermont,  Vermont. 

President  Matthew  Henry  Buckham. 

University  of  Virginia,  Virginia. 

Professor  F.  H.  Smith. 

Washington  and  Jefferson  College,  Pennsylvania. 
President  James  D.  Moffat. 

The  Washington  and  Lee  University,  Virginia. 
Professor  Henry  Alexander  White. 

*  Professor  Tyrrell  had  arranged  to  be  present,  but  was  unavoidably  detained. 


64  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Wesleyan  University,  Connecticut. 

Professor  John  M.  Van  Vleck,  Acting  President. 

Western  Theological  Seminary,  Pennsylvania. 
Professor  Matthezv  Brown  Riddle. 

Western  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Pennsylvania. 
Chancellor  William  J.  Holland. 

The  College  of  William  and  Mary,  Virginia. 
Professor  Lyon  G.   Tyler. 

Williams  College,  Massachusetts. 

President  Franklin  Carter. 

University  of  Wisconsin,  Wisconsin. 

President  Charles  Kendall  Adams. 

Wittenberg  College,  Ohio. 

President  S.  A.  Ort. 

Yale  University,  Connecticut. 

Professor  G.eorge  Park  Fisher, 

Dean  of  tlte  Divinity  School. 

After  music  by  Lander's  orchestra,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Green, 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Sesquicentennial  Celebration,  opened  the  exercises  with  a 
brief  statement  of  what  Princeton  College  had  done  for  the 
country ;  what  she  had  stood  for  in  the  educational  world 
and  in  the  national  life ;  her  spirit  and  attitude  toward  both ; 
of  the  stimulus  to  thinking  and  high  work  that  had  been 
given  the  college  by  the  lectures  during  the  preceding  week; 
of  the  eminent  men  who  had  addressed  in  them  the  univer- 
sity world ;  of  Princeton's  appreciation  of  so  large  and  dis- 
tinguished a  representation  from  the  universities  and  colleges 
of  the  old  world  and  the  new ;  and  most  cordially  welcomed 
to  the  homes  and  hospitality  of  Princeton  and  the  university 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  65 

those  who  had  responded  to  our  invitation  and  honored  us 
by  their  presence.  He  also  bade  the  representatives  of  the 
institutions  which  had  sent  addresses,  to  express  Princeton's 
cordial  appreciation  of  the  very  kind  and  flattering  terms  in 
which  they  had  been  pleased  to  express  their  good  wishes  to 
the  college  as  it  entered  upon  a  new  era. 

Mr.  Green  then  introduced  the  Rev.  Dr.  Howard  Duffield, 
of  New  York,  who  welcomed  the  delegates  in  the  following 
address : 


Fellow  Princetonians  and  Friends  of  Nassau  Hall: 

Alma  Mater  keeps  open  house  to-day.  Her  children  are 
thronging  back  to  the  old  home.  Her  neighbors  have 
flocked  together  from  all  the  country  round.  A  noble 
company  of  guests  from  beyond  the  water  has  come  to 
grace  her  jubilee. 

Alma  Mater  has  reached  a  grand  climacteric.  She 
has  garnered  the  fruitage  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years.  Her  hand  touches  the  shining  goal  toward 
which  her  patient  steps  have  long  been  pressing.  Gar- 
landed with  well-won  laurels,  she  girds  herself  for  wider 
fields  of  toil.  But  scholastic  honors  are  of  little  worth 
when  severed  from  human  sympathies.  She  therefore 
hails  with  peculiar  delight  this  gathering  together  of  her 
sons  and  her  companions,  whose  presence  exalts  her  in- 
vestiture with  academic  dignity  into  a  coronation  of  af- 
fection. 

Alma  Mater  welcomes  "  her  boys."  They  come  to 
her  to-day  from  every  compass  point.  They  come 
freighted  with  cares,  scarred  with  the  conflicts  of  life, 
crowned  with  success,  burdened  with  reverse,  silvered 
with  the  frosts  of  winter,  but  always  "  her  boys."  If, 
as  they  gather  around  her,  the  emotion  of  their  hearts 


66  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

could  be  interpreted  in  speech,  they  fain  would  say : 
"  Alma  Mater,  well-beloved  mother,  dear  art  thou  to  us, 
though  thine  attire  be  never  so  quiet  and  sober ;  thy 
virtues  all  unheralded  among  men ;  thine  achievements 
bounded  by  the  humblest  sphere.  We  are  glad  when 
we  see  thee  put  on  thy  beautiful  garments.  We  re- 
joice in  thy  widening  renown.  We  exult  as  the  voices 
of  the  world  take  up  thy  praise  —  but  love  thee  more, 
we  cannot." 

The  College  of  New  Jersey  welcomes  that  guild  of 
literary  craftsmen,  in  whose  comradeship  she  has  striven 
for  the  welfare  of  our  beloved  land.  Few  American 
academies  had  opened  their  doors  when  Princeton  was 
born.  This  institution  was  the  child  of  those  stalwart 
pioneers  of  truth  who  must  have  a  place  of  study,  even 
if  it  was  built  of  logs,  and  who  knew  how  to  create  a 
university  in  a  forest  clearing.  From  the  meridian  of 
Plymouth  Rock,  and  from  the  bank  of  Neshaminy 
Creek,  came  the  influences  that  generated  Princeton. 
The  Puritanism  of  New  England  and  the  Scotch-Irish- 
ism of  the  middle  colonies  blended  in  her  life.  Harvard 
furnished  one  of  the  most  influential  founders.  Yale 
contributed  the  three  earliest  of  her  presidents.  The 
Tennents  inbreathed  the  institution  with  their  flaming 
ardor  for  the  truth. 

This  handful  of  schools  set  to  themselves  a  brave 
mission.  Before  this  land  was  measured,  while  its 
settlers  lingered  within  the  sound  of  the  sea,  its  forests 
all  untravelled,  its  rivers  unmapped,  its  fields  unfurrowed, 
they  conspired  to  rear  a  citizenship  which  could  worthily 
wield  the  scepter  of  such  a  sovereignty.  They  knew 
that  knowledge  fed  patriotism ;  that  ignorance  was  the 
owlish  foster-mother  of  public  dishonor ;  that  anarchy 
cannot  live  in  the  light;  that  civic  hate  never  kindled 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  07 

its  incendiary  torch  at  wisdom's  altar-fires.  Right  well 
did  those  old-time  school-houses  deserve  to  be  called 
"the  Martello  towers  on  the  coast-line  of  our  civiliza- 
tion." It  is  a  glad  omen  to  behold  this  auspicious  rep- 
resentation of  America's  academic  force,  an  armament 
of  truth  which  ultimately  must  possess  the  continent. 
It  is  a  peculiar  privilege  to  salute  the  delegates  of  such  a 
brilliant  constellation  of  institutions,  established  in  busy 
metropolitan  centres ;  lifting  their  cupolas  above  the 
roofs  of  quiet  country  towns;  anchored  on  the  seaboard, 
nestling  against  the  hillside,  reposing  by  the  lake  shore, 
or  studding  the  imperial  prairie  land  of  the  West ;  bear- 
ing the  titles  of  historic  commonwealths,  or  standing  as 
the  enduring  and  beneficent  memorials  of  individual  de- 
votion to  the  truth ;  but  all  baptized  with  the  spirit  of 
antagonism  to  the  forces  which  slink  and  burrow ;  all 
banded  together  by  the  stress  of  a  supreme  endeavor  for 
the  uplifting  of  humanity. 

Nassau  Hall  extends  an  especial  warmth  of  welcome 
to  the  illustrious  men  of  letters  from  the  Old  World 
seats  of  learning,  who  have  rendered  this  moment 
memorable  by  their  coming  hitherward.  Princeton  was 
at  the  beginning  a  colonial  school,  but  it  has  always 
been  infected  with  a  cosmopolitan  spirit.  Columbus 
discovered  this  new  world,  but  Joseph  Henry  of  Prince- 
ton discovered  the  method  of  binding  worlds  together. 
Our  heraldry  carries  a  blazon  of  European  loyalty. 
The  name  of  "  Nassau"  unites  us  to  the  British  throne, 
and  allies  us  with  the  champions  of  European  liberty. 
We  wear  the  colors  before  which  the  arms  of  mediaeval 
tyranny  went  backward,  and  the  spirit  of  feudalism  was 
exorcised  from  Great  Britain.  The  ocean  has  not  in- 
sulated this  institution.  The  Atlantic  has  not  been  a 
barrier,  but  a  highway.     The    Princeton  theology  has 


68  PRINCETON    SESQ.UICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

never  held  it  to  be  an  infraction  of  the  eighth  command- 
ment to  steal  the  good  and  the  great  wherever  found. 
Once  and  again  she  has  recruited  her  teaching  with 
transatlantic  thinkers.  Alone  among  American  univer- 
sities she  has  crossed  the  sea  for  her  presidents.  Twice 
she  has  summoned  to  her  leadership  the  sons  of  that 
land  where  the  granite  is  clothed  with  the  heather, 
where  strength  is  wedded  with  beauty.  You  have 
journeyed  hitherward  over  a  path  plowed  by  the  keels 
of  Princeton's  treasure-ships.  You  come  to  us,  not  as 
aliens,  but  as  allies,  as  kinsfolk,  to  add  a  bond  tender 
and  undying  to  the  friendships  which  already  bind  this 
institution  to  those  venerable  haunts  of  learning  which 
are  beyond  the  sea. 

We  bid  you  welcome  in  the  name  of  an  honored 
past.  In  ancient  Athens  the  Parthenon  crested  the 
Acropolis.  The  sanctuary  of  wisdom  glorified  the  hill 
which  was  sacred  to  the  divinity  of  war.  In  like  manner 
Nassau  Hall  stands  upon  a  battle-field.  Its  site  marks 
a  pivotal  spot  in  the  struggle  for  our  national  existence. 
Its  culture  was  a  prime  factor  in  the  formation  of  our 
nation's  life. 

The  American  revolution  was  not  a  spasm  of  blind 
unreason.  It  was  a  war  of  eternal  principles.  It  enlisted 
men  of  thought,  the  children  of  the  noblest  era  of  Eng- 
lish letters,  the  inheritors  of  the  literary  wealth  of  Eu- 
rope. The  academy  became  the  recruiting-station  for 
the  Continental  Army.  The  munitions  of  war  were 
obtained  from  the  arsenals  of  truth.  There  was  logic, 
as  well  as  powder,  behind  the  bullets.  The  bayonets 
thought.  The  ideas  by  which  the  Mayflower  was 
motored  marched  to  victory  at  Yorktown.  American 
independence  is  the  fruit  of  a  ripe  intelligence. 

Princeton  was  a  veritable  Gibraltar  of  Americanism. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  69 

From  the  moment  that  the  hum  of  freedom's  fight  ran 
through  the  land,  Princeton  throbbed  with  patriotism. 
Gowned  in  black,  her  students  burned  the  papers  that 
hinted  compromise  with  tyranny.  They  repeated  the 
Boston  Tea  Party  upon  the  front  campus.  They  wore 
only  American  cloth.  "We  learn  patriotism  as  w^ell  as 
Greek,"  declared  one  of  their  number.  They  graduated 
the  secretary  of  the  Mecklenburg  Convention.  Their 
president  sat  in  the  Continental  Congress.  His  impas- 
sioned earnestness  forced  the  passage  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  The  crucial  struggle  of  the  Revo- 
lution left  its  imprint  upon  the  wall  of  Old  North.  The 
college  chapel  became  the  meeting-place  of  Congress. 
Washington  was  present  at  its  commencements,  and 
enrolled  his  foster  son  among  its  students,  and  issued 
his  farewell  to  the  army  within  its  shadow.  The  sign- 
ing of  the  treaty  of  peace  at  Versailles  was  proclaimed 
within  its  prayer  hall  in  the  presence  of  a  brilliant  assem- 
bly of  diplomats.  The  simple  facts  of  the  college  annals 
seem  tinged  with  romance.  Cold  statistics  glow  with 
rhetoric.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  in  every  instance  where 
scholarship  ministers  to  the  dignity  and  the  prosperity 
of  the  State ;  in  the  conventions  which  framed  laws  for 
the  land ;  upon  the  field  of  battle  where  its  honor  was 
maintained ;  in  foreign  courts  and  home  cabinets ;  on 
the  bench  and  in  the  pulpit ;  in  the  chair  of  the  president 
of  the  Senate,  and  in  the  home  of  the  President  of  the 
nation,  the  sons  of  Old  Nassau  have  uplifted  the  "  Orange 
and  the  Black." 

This  potency  of  Princeton  is  but  an  exponent  of  the 
personal  influence  of  her  leaders.  It  has  been  her  happy 
lot  to  enjoy  the  guardianship  of  a  company  of  great 
teachers,  who,  as  Lowell  has  truly  said,  "are  as  rare  as 
great  poets."     Dickinson  and  Burr  were  courtly,  schol- 


70  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

arly,  masterful,  and  only  less  princely  in  thought  than 
Edwards.  Jonathan  Edwards,  whose  imposing  figure 
moves  across  a  weird  background  of  Indian  haunted  for- 
est, wore  the  mantle  of  Plato  in  this  modern  world. 
Davies,  the  builder  of  Old  North,  was  a  latter-day  Chry- 
sostom.  Finley  possessed  a  classic  culture  which  won 
academic  recognition  from  beyond  the  Atlantic.  With- 
erspoon  was  a  reincarnation  of  John  Knox,  whose  blood 
tingled  in  his  veins.  He  recognized  no  kingship  by  di- 
vine right  except  the  royalty  of  humanity.  His  scholas- 
tic attainments  warranted  the  christening  of  his  residence 
with  the  name  of  Cicero's  country-seat.  His  patriotic 
zeal  made  the  forum  ring  with  accents  like  those  which 
in  the  olden  time  "  shook  the  arsenal,  and  fulmined  over 
Greece."  His  teaching  power  reduplicated  his  person- 
ality almost  beyond  parallel.  Of  Stanhope  Smith,  Wash- 
ington wrote:  "There  is  no  college  whose  president  is 
thought  to  be  more  capable  to  direct  a  proper  system 
of  education  than  Dr.  Smith."  Greene  and  Carnahan 
led  the  American  universities  in  the  introduction  of 
chemistry  as  a  distinct  branch  of  undergraduate  study. 
MacLean,  who  wore  so  well  the  name  of  the  beloved 
disciple,  was  scholar  enough  to  teach  the  entire  curri- 
culum, was  publicist  enough  to  create  the  public-school 
system  of  his  State,  and  possessed  the  high  distinction 
of  having  never  rebuked  a  student  without  making  a 
friend.  McCosh  was  our  Augustus,  who  found  Prince- 
ton brick,  and  left  it  marble.  Departed  from  earth,  he 
is  still  enshrined  within  the  sanctuary  of  many  a  pupil's 
heart.  He  was  a  far-sighted,  deep-thoughted,  tender- 
hearted man.  Well  did  he  voice  the  emotions  of  his 
great  compeers,  when  with  wistful  pen  he  wrote  as  the 
time  of  his  departure  drew  nigh:  "If  I  were  permitted 
to  come  back  from  the  other  world  to  this,  I  would  visit 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  71 

these  scenes  so  dear  to  me,  that  I  might  once  more  see 
the  tribes  go  up  to  the  house  of  God  in  companies." 

Verily,  if  the  spirits  of  those  who  have  entered  into 
the  better  country  share  in  the  emotions  of  those  who 
tarry  amid  the  vicissitude  of  earth,  this  great  "choir 
invisible  "  hail  with  joy  this  auspicious  hour.  Their 
prayers  pointed  hitherward,  and  their  unflinching  sac- 
rifice and  undaunted  toil  smoothed  the  upward  path  to 
this  moment  of  eminence.  They  all  died  in  the  faith 
of  old  Nassau's  coming  glory.  Their  unseen  presence 
hallows  this  moment  in  which  their  vision  becomes  real- 
ity.    The  voices  of  the  mighty  dead  salute  you! 

We  welcome  you  in  the  name  of  an  inspiring  future. 
One  of  the  most  striking  incidents  of  academic  story  oc- 
curred at  the  celebration  of  Lord  Kelvin's  distinguished 
service  in  the  cause  of  truth.  He  had  forced  so  many 
problems  to  solution,  had  lifted  the  shadow  from  so 
many  mysteries,  had  provided  the  civilizing  energies 
of  the  earth  with  such  varied  and  invincible  equipment, 
that  a  notable  company  gathered  to  do  him  honor.  He 
met  their  congratulations  with  the  significant  statement  : 
"  Were  I  at  this  moment  to  sum  up  my  life,  it  would 
be  in  the  single  word  —  failure."  But  the  time  shall 
come  when  that  sad  note  of  conscious  defeat  shall  be 
echoed  with  a  victorious  "  Eureka."  The  world's  intel- 
lect is  sweeping  toward  the  light.  The  "open  secret" 
of  nature  shall  be  mastered.  The  hieroglyphics  of  crea- 
tion shall  at  length  be  deciphered.  The  veil  of  Isis  shall 
at  last  be  uplifted  from  the  hidden  and  benignant  face. 

The  modern  impulse  toward  this  sublime  event  began 
when  the  world  beheld  gleaming  behind  the  Alps : 

"The  glory  that  was  Greece 
And  the  grandeur  that  was  Rome." 


72  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

A  thirst  for  knowledge  smote  humanity.  A  great 
longing  for  a  vision  of  the  truth  filled  all  hearts  with 
sleepless  desire.  An  enthusiasm  to  know  the  reason  of 
things  took  possession  of  the  European  world.  The  Oc- 
cident embarked  in  a  crusade  of  thought.  Schools  sup- 
planted palaces  as  seats  of  power.  The  aristocracy  of 
birth  found  a  new  patent  of  nobility  in  learning.  The 
crown  jewels  of  the  nations  became  the  universities. 
The  glory  of  Italy  was  Bologna,  with  one  starry  word 
as  her  motto,  "  Libertas."  The  kingliest  achievement 
of  Charlemagne  was  the  creation  of  the  common  school 
which  taught  Paris  how  to  become  the  intellectual  mis- 
tress of  the  earth.  The  old  German  schoolmasters 
strung  the  Teutonic  character  with  so  true  a  fibre,  and 
infused  the  Teutonic  spirit  with  such  an  indomitable  love 
for  Fatherland,  that  Napoleon  feared  the  universities 
more  than  the  Prussian  bayonets.  Where  the  soil  of 
Holland  was  drenched  with  the  life-blood  of  her  sons, 
whose  triumphant  love  of  liberty  was  stronger  than  death, 
arose  the  academic  halls  of  Leyden.  Our  Saxon  Alfred 
vindicated  his  right  to  be  called  the  Great,  by  laying  the 
corner-stone  of  the  British  universities,  which,  "  steeped 
in  sentiment,  spreading  their  gardens  to  the  moonlight, 
and  whispering  from  their  towers  the  last  enchantments 
of  the  Middle  Age,  keep  ever  calling  us  nearer  to  the 
goal."  Like  a  company  of  godfathers,  bearing  gifts, 
the  sons  of  these  great  centres  of  civilizing  progress 
stand  to-day  by  the  cradle-side  of  Princeton  University. 
Into  her  new  life  they  pour  their  distinctive  benefactions. 
From  Italy,  the  native  land  of  Dante  and  of  Angelo, 
comes  the  intuition  of  that  beauty  which  ever  lies  at 
the  heart  of  truth.  France  imparts  the  intrepid  spirit  of 
experiment  and  discovery.  Germany  brings  the  genius 
for  original  and  sound  research.     Great  Britain  bestows 


Tower  of  Blair  Hall. 

Erected  1897. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  73 

that  relish  for  the  classics,  that  reverence  for  ethics,  that 
instinct  for  metaphysics,  which  are  the  roots  of  all  gen- 
erous and  enduring  culture.  From  the  combination  of 
such  primal  elements  will  Princeton  seek  to  develop  her 
distinctive  academic  life.  The  Princeton  idea  of  a  uni- 
versity came  to  definition,  in  connection  with  two  of 
its  early  presidents.  Edwards  said  of  himself,  "  If  I 
think  of  an  unsolved  theorem  I  will  immediately  try 
to  solve  it."  Of  Burr,  Benjamin  Franklin  said,  "He 
was  a  great  scholar,  but  a  very  great  man."  To  press 
fearlessly  toward  the  heart  of  every  mystery,  and  to 
raise  manhood  to  its  highest  terms  by  the  development 
of  great  scholarship,  is  the  exact  impulse  which  is  carry- 
ing the  college  over  into  the  broader  field  of  university 
work.  The  school-house  is  made  for  man,  and  not 
man  for  the  school-house.  There  is  more  in  the  mystery 
of  existence  than  the  bread-and-butter  problem.  Intel- 
lect is  not  an  instrument  for  making  a  living,  but  for 
the  making  of  life.  Culture  is  not  for  the  sake  of 
wealth,  but  of  the  commonwealth.  The  university  ex- 
ists to  train  thinkers  who  can  grasp,  and  state,  and 
help  to  solve  the  great  problems  of  human  life ;  who 
can  liberate  those  subtle  and  potent  energies  which  ex- 
tinguish disorder,  stamp  out  the  seeds  of  crime,  and 
create  better  citizens,  nobler  characters,  and  more  God- 
like men. 

We  welcome  you  in  the  supreme  name  of  Him  who 
is  the  fountain  of  all  truth,  and  the  goal  of  all  thought, 
whose  honor  is  the  scholar's  inspiration,  and  whose 
smile  is  the  student's  reward  —  the  name  of  the  "Only 
Wise  God."  When  William  of  Orange  entered  the 
lists  in  behalf  of  human  liberty,  he  was  asked,  "Have 
you  arranged  an  alliance  with  any  of  the  great  powers 
who  will  sustain  you  in  the  event  of  reverse?"     "Before 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

I  unsheathed  my  sword,"  was  the  royal  reply,  "I  en- 
tered into  covenant  allegiance  with  the  God  of  battles." 
Our  founders  were  worthy  princes  of  the  house  of 
Nassau.  They  burned  to  enrich  their  country  with  a 
dower  of  educated  citizenship.  They  aspired  to  exalt 
their  church  with  a  ministry  of  liberal  and  able  scholar- 
ship. But  they  were  environed  with  difficulties  as  vast 
and  as  dark  as  the  forests  which  skirted  their  dwelling. 
Their  numbers  were  few.  Their  dollars  were  fewer. 
Sympathy  with  high  ideals  is  never  easy  to  evoke.  But 
they  were  not  resourceless.  They  were  men  of  God. 
Before  they  gave  themselves  to  their  heroic  adventure, 
they  entered  into  covenant  with  Jehovah  of  Hosts.  He 
was  their  strength  and  their  shield.  Their  academy  was 
founded  in  his  name.  The  college  was  prayed  into 
existence.  Its  cradle  was  rocked  in  a  church  synod. 
Its  youth  grew  strong  in  an  atmosphere  tonic  with 
faith.  It  has  become  clothed  with  strength,  and  beauty, 
and  victory,  beneath  the  smile  of  heaven. 

The  founders  are  imagined  as  intolerant.  They  were 
intolerant  of  littleness.  They  were  stern  set  against 
superstition.  They  loved  nothing  so  much  as  truth. 
They  feared  nothing  at  all  but  half-truths.  They  con- 
centrated their  lives  upon  the  intense  effort  to  save 
piety  from  deformity,  to  wed  faith  with  intellectuality, 
to  crown  Christian  character  with  the  diadem  of  a  liberal 
culture.  The  founders  are  imagined  as  narrow.  They 
were  narrow  enough  not  to  perceive  any  conflict  be- 
tween faith  and  science.  They  assumed  that  he  who 
knew  God  best  would  best  understand  the  works  of 
God;  that  the  child  was  the  truest  interpreter  of  the 
father.  They  were  narrow  enough  to  count  as  of  very 
little  worth  any  culture  that  issued  in  universal  doubt. 
Their  lives  were  narrowed  into  the  conviction  of  the 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  75 

absolute  certainty  of  some  things ;  and  they  became 
bond-slaves  of  the  elemental  principles  of  human  no- 
bility. They  made  the  charter  of  Princeton  the  Magna 
Charta  of  religious  liberty  in  the  academic  life  of  Amer- 
ica. In  1746  they  wrote  above  the  portals  of  their 
college  this  legend:  "That  no  person  shall  be  debarred 
of  any  of  the  privileges  of  the  said  college  on  account 
of  any  speculative  principles  of  religion;  but  those  of 
every  religious  profession  shall  have  equal  privilege  and 
advantage  of  education  in  said  college."  This  trumpet- 
note  reverberated  throughout  the  land.  Bancroft  said : 
"It  was  from  Witherspoon  of  New  Jersey  that  Madison 
imbibed  the  lesson  of  perfect  freedom  in  matters  of 
conscience." 

Upon  this  deep,  broad  rock-bed  of  faith  and  freedom 
the  university  was  founded.  In  the  same  catholic  spirit 
it  has  been  builded.  Its  heraldic  motto  is  "  Dei  sub 
numine  viget."  Its  official  seal  is  blazoned  with  an 
open  Bible.  Edwards  projected  as  part  of  his  Prince- 
ton work  a  mighty  "  History  of  Redemption,"  which 
should  combine,  in  one  stupendous  literary  product,  the 
ideas  of  Augustine's  "  City  of  God,"  Dante's  "  Corn- 
media,"  and  the  Paradise  epics  of  Milton.  Wither- 
spoon struck  the  key-note  of  his  phenomenal  adminis- 
tration when  he  announced  the  theme  of  his  inaugural 
as  "The  Union  of  Piety  and  Science."  Joseph  Henry, 
distinguished  alike  for  ability  and  modesty,  as  was 
Newton,  whose  brilliant  successor  honors  this  cere- 
monial with  his  presence,  habitually  introduced  his  la- 
boratory work  by  saying,  "  Young  gentlemen,  we  are 
about  to  ask  God  a  question."  Guyot  devoted  his  rare 
power  of  observation,  and  his  marvellous  stores  of  ac- 
quisition, to  displaying  the  harmony  between  the  physi- 
cal and  the  scriptural — "Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man." 


76  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

Stephen  Alexander  defined  laws  of  nature  as  "  Methods 
according  to  which  God  ordinarily  chooses  to  act." 
The  last  time  that  McCosh  stood  in  the  chapel  pulpit, 
he  opened  the  book  to  a  favorite  passage,  the  prose 
poem  of  Paul  concerning  "  Charity."  As  he  reached 
the  sentence,  "We  know  in  part,"  he  paused.  With 
the  light  of  the  unclouded  land  already  brightening  his 
noble  face,  he  condensed  his  entire  philosophy  into  a 
single  characteristic  declaration,  "  We  know  in  part — 
but  we  k7iow/"  When  he  who  now  wears  with  such 
ability  and  dignity  the  mantle  of  Princeton's  president, 
whose  brain  of  light  and  heart  of  fire,  whose  piercing 
intuition  of  the  truth,  whose  ardent,  progressive,  untir- 
ing, inspiring  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  the  university 
are  Princeton's  pride,  was  inducted  into  office,  he  inter- 
preted in  memorable  phrase  the  religious  genius  of  the 
institution.  Says  President  Patton  in  his  inaugural : 
"We  do  not  mean  to  extinguish  the  torch  of  science 
that  we  may  sit  in  religious  moonlight,  and  we  do  not 
intend  to  send  our  religion  up  to  the  biological  library 
for  examination  and  approval.  We  shall  not  be  afraid 
to  open  our  eyes  in  the  presence  of  nature,  nor  ashamed 
to  close  them  in  the  presence  of  God."  This  stately 
hall  in  which  we  are  assembled  is  an  eloquent  and 
monumental  tribute  to  a  resplendent  line  of  Princeton's 
intellectual  nobility,  the  lustre  of  whose  learning  was 
heightened  by  the  glow  of  a  lofty  and  unshaken  faith. 

Some  problems  are  settled  at  Princeton.  Some  issues 
are  not  open  to  debate  beneath  its  elms.  Its  philosophy 
is  rooted  in  the  glory  of  God  and  the  immortality  of 
man.  God  is  postulated;  and  the  divine  spark  in  human 
clay  is  assumed.  Conscience  underlies  the  curriculum. 
Eternity  is  in  view  from  the  class-room.  We  seek  the 
truth,  but  we  believe  that  Christ  is  the  most  exalted 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  7T 

revelation  of  the  truth.     The  brightest  rays  of  earthly 
learning  are  only  "  broken  lights  of  Him." 

"  Dei  sub  numine  viget."  The  motto  of  the  college 
becomes  the  watchword  of  the  university.  It  is  historic. 
It  is  prophetic.  It  explains  the  past.  It  ensures  the  fu- 
ture. It  condenses  the  chronicle  of  a  century  and  a  half 
into  a  sentence.  It  sweeps  the  expanding  horizon  of 
the  future  with  a  stroke  of  the  pen.  "Dei  sub  numine 
viget."  Dei  sub  numine  vigcbit.  He  who  has  led  the 
wilderness  march  in  triumph  will  invest  the  conquest 
of  the  promised  land  with  glory.  In  His  Great  Name, 
Princeton  salutes  her  guests.     Sursum  corda! 

Let  knowledge  grow  from  more  to  more, 
But  more  of  reverence  with  it  dwell ; 
That  mind  and  soul,  according  well, 

May  make  one  music  as  before, 

But  vaster. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  address  of  welcome  there  was 
music  by  the  orchestra,  after  which  President  Eliot,  of  Har- 
vard University,  read  the  following  response  on  behalf  of 
the  universities  and  learned  societies  of  America: 

In  obedience  to  the  summons  of  your  Sesquicentennial 
Committee,  it  is  my  high  privilege,  as  the  head  of  the 
oldest  American  university,  to  present  to  the  President, 
Trustees,  and  Faculty  of  Princeton  University,  on  this 
auspicious  occasion,  the  hearty  congratulations  of  the 
universities  and  learned  societies  of  the  United  States. 
The  universities  and  learned  societies  of  the  United 
States  congratulate  Princeton  University  on  the  rela- 
tions of  mutual  support  and  affection  in  ^^•hich  she  has 
always  stood  with  that  great  religious  denomination,  the 


78  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

Presbyterian  Church  —  a  church  which  has  rendered  in- 
valuable service  to  the  cause  of  civil  liberty  as  well  as 
of  religious  independence.  They  rejoice  that  this  rela- 
tionship is  firm  and  close  to-day,  and  that  Princeton 
University  maintains  from  year  to  year  its  habitual 
contribution  to  the  ministry  of  that  powerful  church ; 
but  they  also  felicitate  the  University  that  it  was  ex- 
pressly provided  in  the  charter  of  1748  that  no  person 
of  any  religious  denomination  whatever  should  be  ex- 
cluded from  any  of  the  liberties,  privileges,  or  immu- 
nities of  the  college  on  account  of  his  being  of  a 
religious  profession  different  from  that  of  the  trustees 
of  the  college. 

They  appreciate  as  a  valuable  force  in  the  political 
and  religious  history  of  the  country  the  conservative 
spirit  of  Princeton  University. 

They  share  the  pride  and  satisfaction  with  which  the 
graduates  of  Princeton  remember  the  contributions  of 
the  college  to  the  membership  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress and  to  the  public  service  of  the  United  States  — 
contributions  illustrated  by  such  names  as  Joseph  Reed, 
John  Witherspoon,  Oliver  Ellsworth,  Edward  Living- 
ston, and  James  Madison. 

They  remember  with  gratitude  the  services  to  the 
profession  of  medicine  which  that  distinguished  Prince- 
ton graduate,  the  patriot  Benjamin  Rush,  rendered  in 
the  early  days  of  medical  instruction  in  America. 

They  look  back  with  respectful  interest  to  the  pioneer 
work  in  American  history  done  by  David  Ramsay,  sur- 
geon in  the  Continental  army,  in  his  writings  on  the 
history  of  the  American  Revolution  ;  and  they  see  in 
him  a  worthy  predecessor  of  the  brilliant  historical 
writers  whose  names  now  adorn  the  rolls  of  Princeton 
University. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  79 

The  scientific  societies  of  the  country  venerate  the 
mental  power,  philosophic  insight,  and  noble  character 
of  Joseph  Henry,  long  a  teacher  in  this  University, 
and  declare  that  no  worthier  name  is  written  in  the  an- 
nals of  American  science. 

Universities  and  societies  alike  rejoice  that  to  the 
study  of  dialectics  and  systematic  theology,  long  estab- 
lished here,  there  was  added  in  later  times  a  school  of 
modern  philosophy  of  wide  and  liberalizing  influence. 
They  have  seen  with  satisfaction  that  to  the  ancient 
College  of  New  Jersey  was  added,  twenty-three  years 
ago,  a  school  of  natural  science,  which  soon  enlisted  a 
strong  corps  of  vigorous  and  inspiring  teachers  and  a 
large  body  of  enthusiastic  students.  The  learned  soci- 
eties of  the  United  States  especially  rejoice  in  this 
broadening  of  the  work  of  the  University,  and  these 
great  enrichments  of  its  instruction,  apparatus,  and 
means  of  influence. 

They  see  with  peculiar  satisfaction  that  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  like  other  old  American  colleges,  has 
conferred  priceless  benefits  on  the  country  by  educating, 
through  successive  generations,  families  capable  of  emi- 
nent public  service  —  families  which  have  won  not  only 
local,  but  national  repute.  It  is  enough  to  mention  as 
illustrations  the  names  of  Alexander,  Bayard,  Dayton, 
Frelinghuysen,  Green,  Hodge,  Sloan,  and  Stockton. 
The  American  colleges  have  rendered  no  greater  ser- 
vice to  the  nation  than  this  of  giving  good  training  for 
business,  professional,  or  public  life  to  successive  gen- 
erations from  sound  family  stocks. 

Finally,  the  American  universities  and  learned  soci- 
eties congratulate  Princeton  University  on  its  habitual 
inculcation  of  patriotism  and  public  spirit.  The  resort 
to  Princeton,  though  naturally  in  chief  part  derived  from 


80  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

the  neighboring  States  of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey, 
and  New  York,  has  been  in  early  and  in  later  times 
of  a  national  breadth.  Princeton  has  thus  promoted 
the  unity  of  the  country,  and  strengthened  the  bands 
which  bind  together  the  federated  States. 

The  universities  and  learned  societies  of  the  United 
States  observe  within  recent  years  many  signs  of  the 
rise,  among  the  American  institutions  of  learning,  of  a 
spirit  of  sympathy  and  cooperation  unknown  before. 
Institutions  which  once  felt  widely  separated  by  dis- 
tance, by  different  denominational  affiliations,  or  by  di- 
versities of  political  and  social  environment,  now  feel 
themselves  to  be  close  kindred  by  nature,  near  neigh- 
bors in  spirit,  and  united  in  the  common  pursuit  of  the 
same  lofty  ends.  With  one  accord  the  American  uni- 
versities and  learned  societies,  if  they  were  all  repre- 
sented here,  would  express  the  ardent  wish  that,  as  the 
centuries  pass,  the  name  and  fame  of  Princeton  may 
mount  higher  and  higher,  and  her  continuous  services 
to  freedom,  learning,  and  religion  be  gratefully  accepted 
and  recorded  by  the  American  people. 

This  dignified  address  by  the  President  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity was  received  with  hearty  applause.  And  when  the 
applause  had  subsided,  it  broke  out  afresh  upon  the  appear- 
ance, at  the  front  of  the  platform,  of  Professor  Joseph  John 
Thomson  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  who, 
in  behalf  of  the  delegates  from  the  European  universities, 
spoke  as  follows : 

I  rise  to  offer  to  Princeton  University  on  behalf  of  the  uni- 
versities and  societies  of  Europe  a  hearty  congratulation. 
When  asked  to  undertake  this  duty  I  felt  that  the  com- 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  81 

pliment  paid  to  the  part  that  Cambridge  University  had 
taken  in  the  estabhshment  of  the  system  of  universities 
in  this  country  was  so  great  that  I  could  not  refuse  con- 
sent. The  compHment  was  all  the  greater  because  in 
choosing  me  you  have  disregarded  every  consideration 
of  personal  fitness  or  distinction. 

There  are  no  men  more  honored  of  Cambridge  than 
those  men  of  Emmanuel  College  who  started  the  greatest 
scheme  of  university  extension  the  world  has  ever  seen 
or  will  see.  And  although  Cambridge  cannot  pride 
itself  on  being  so  closely  connected  with  Princeton  as 
with  another  university,  yet  there  is  something  about 
Princeton  that  reminds  them  of  their  university.  I  was 
told  long  ago  by  Cambridge  men  that  they  never  felt 
more  at  home  than  when  they  were  at  Princeton.  I, 
since  I  have  been  here,  have  felt  that  feeling  myself 
strongly.  Princeton,  like  Cambridge,  is  a  university 
remote  from  large  cities  and  manufactories,  and  a  cam- 
pus with  long  vistas. 

The  labors  of  Princeton  men  during  the  last  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  command  the  gratitude  and  consid- 
eration of  every  university  and  scientific  society.  There 
is  no  university  but  part  of  whose  teaching  is  due  to  the 
labors  of  Princeton  men.  To  the  historian,  the  lawyer, 
the  politician,  and  the  man  of  science,  Princeton  is  classic 
ground.  It  appears  that  political  events  took  place  here 
of  incalculable  importance  to  this  country,  and  which  an 
Englishman  can  now  heartily  acknowledge  were  settled 
in  the  way  to  best  promote  the  peace,  happiness,  and 
prosperity  of  the  world.  May  they  forever  attain  the 
distinction  of  being  the  last  occasion  on  which  there  is 
any  issue  between  these  two  great  countries. 

No  man  of  science  can  forget  that  Princeton  shares 
with  the  Royal  Institution  of  London  the  honor  of  being 


82  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

the  seat  of  the  greatest  discoveries,  very  important  in 
electricity.  It  was  here  that  Young  discovered  the  phe- 
nomena of  electrical  vibration,  although  its  importance 
was  not  appreciated  until  it  had  been  rediscovered  a 
few  years  ago.  To  Princeton  belongs  the  honor  of  es- 
tablishing the  first  chemical  laboratory  in  this  country; 
and  that  great  discoverer  and  philosopher,  Guyot,  has 
engraved  the  name  of  Princeton  upon  this  planet.  But 
to  be  connected  to  this  planet  alone  has  not  been  enough 
for  Princeton.  The  researches  of  Professor  Young  on 
the  sun  have  caused  the  name  of  Princeton  to  be  forever 
associated  with  the  very  centre  of  the  solar  system. 

But  great  as  has  been  the  contribution  of  Princeton  to 
science  and  learning,  there  is  the  more  important  fact 
that  this  university  has,  year  after  year,  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years,  sent  out  into  the  country  a  body  of  men 
highly  trained,  and  who  have  acquired  by  residence  in 
this  university  that  keen  sense  of  personal  honor,  that 
fairness  of  mind  which  makes  them  capable  of  rendering 
invaluable  service  to  this  country  at  a  critical  stage  in 
the  history  of  this  country,  and  they  have  been  render- 
ing valuable  service  ever  since.  As  your  President  said 
this  morning,  it  is  not  the  exceptional  men  of  science  that 
are  the  real  test  of  the  work  of  this  university. 

There  is  no  factor  in  this  influence  that  so  makes  for 
good  as  the  existence  of  a  fine  university  tradition. 
That  each  university  must  make  for  itself.  It  cannot 
receive  it  even  from  the  most  generous  benefactor.  It 
must  be  got  by  the  great  deeds,  great  discoveries  and 
self-sacrifice  of  its  graduates.  These  are  rare  things 
and  accumulate  but  slowly ;  but  Princeton  has  managed 
to  acquire  them.  But  it  is  because  of  the  possession  of 
this  tradition,  as  well  as  the  intellectual  and  scientific 
achievements  of  Princeton,  that  on  behalf  of  the  univer- 


Erratum  —  Page  82,  line  2,  for  Young  read  Henry. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 


83 


sities  and  other  societies  of  Europe  I  offer  you  their 


warmest  congratulations. 


After  Professor  Thomson's  reply,  which  aroused  great 
enthusiasm,  the  orchestra  played  a  selection,  and  Mr.  Green, 
then  rising,  read  a  list,  which  was  as  yet  only  partly 
complete,  of  the  institutions  and  societies  which  had  sent 
congratulatory  addresses  to  Princeton  University.  As  sup- 
plemented a  few  days  later,  it  was  as  follows : 

American. 


American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences 

Amherst  College         .... 

Brown  University  ..... 

University  of  California 

Carleton  College     ..... 

Catholic  University  of  America  . 

University  of  Chicago     .... 

University  of  Chicago  (The  Academical  Council) 

College  of  the  City  of  New  York 

Clark  University     ..... 

University  of  Colorado 

Columbia  Theological  Seminary     . 

Columbia  University  .... 

Cornell  University    .... 

Cornell  University  (The  Faculty) 

Dartmouth  College  .... 

University  of  Denver 

University  of  Georgia     .... 


Massachusetts. 

Massac  h  use  t  is. 

Rhode  Is  la  fid. 
California, 
Minnesota. 


Washington,  D.  C. 


Illinois. 
Illinois. 


.     New  York. 

.    Massachusetts. 

Colorado. 

South  Carolina. 

.    New  York. 

Nezv  York. 

New  York. 

New  Hampshire. 

Colorado. 

Georgia. 


84 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 


Georgetown  University       ....  Georgetown,  D.  C. 

Hampden-Sidney  College Virginia. 

Harvard  University    .....         Massadmsetts. 
Harvard  University  (The  President  and  Fellows)     .  Mass. 


Haverford  College 

Hobart  College  .... 

The  Johns  Hopkins  University 

Knox  College 

Lafayette  College     .... 

Lake  Forest  University 

Lick  Observatory 

McCormick  Theological  Seminary     . 

Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology 


Pennsylvania. 

.    New  York. 

Maryland. 

Illinois. 

Pennsylvania. 

Illinois. 

California. 

Illinois. 

Massac  h  usetts. 


Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  (The  Faculty)    Mass. 


University  of  Missouri 
University  of  Nebraska 
New  York  University 
Northwestern  University 
University  of  Pennsylvania 
Pennsylvania  College    .         .         .         . 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary 
Rutgers  College  .... 

Southwestern  Presbyterian  University 
Swarthmore  College  ... 

Syracuse  University 
University  of  Texas 
Trinity  College 

Union  University     .  .  .  . 

United  States  Military  Academy 
United  States  Naval  Academy    . 


Missouri. 

Nebraska. 

New  York. 

Illinois. 

Pennsylvania . 

Pennsylvania. 

New  Jersey. 

New  Jersey. 

Tennessee. 

Pennsylvania. 

Nctv  York. 

Texas. 

Connecticut. 

New  York. 

New   York. 

Maryland. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 


85 


Vanderbilt  University 
University  of  Vermont 
University  of  Virginia 
Washington  University 
Washington  and  Lee  University     . 
Western  Reserve  University 
Western  University  of  Pennsylvania 
WilHams  College         .         .         .         , 
University  of  Wisconsin 
Wittenberg  College 
Yale  University 
Yale  University  (The  Corporation) 


Tennessee. 

Vermo7it. 

Virginia. 

Missouri. 

Virginia. 

.      Ohio. 

Pennsylvania. 

Massac  h  use  its. 

Wisconsin. 

.      Ohio. 

Connecticut. 

.    Connecticut. 


Canadian. 


Dalhousie  University 
McGill  University 
Queen's  College  and  University 
University  of  Toronto 


Halifax. 

Mo7itreal. 

Kingston. 

Toronto. 


European. 


University  of  Aberdeen 
University  of  Amsterdam 
University  of  Athens 
University  of  Basle 
University  of  Berlin 
University  of  Berne 
University  of  Bologna 
University  of  Bonn 


Scotland. 

Holland. 

.    Greece. 

Switzerland. 

Germany. 

Switzerland. 

Italy. 

Germany. 


86  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL 

University  of  Brussels 
University  of  Budapest 
University  of  Cambridge 
University  of  Christiania 
University  of  Copenhagen 
University  of  Dublin 

University  of  Edinburgh 

University  of  Glasgow 

University  of  Gottingen 

University  of  Greifswald 

University  of  Halle 

University  of  Heidelberg 

University  of  Jena 

University  of  Kiel 

University  of  Konigsberg 

University  of  Leipzig 

University  of  Leyden 

University  of  Lille 

University  of  London 
University  of  Moscow 
University  of  Munich 
University  of  Oxford 
Owens  College 
University  of  Padua 
University  of  Paris 
University  of  Prague 
Queen's  College 
University  of  Rome 
University  of  Rostock 
Royal  Prussian  Academy 


CELEBRATION 


Belgium. 
.     Hufigary. 
England. 
Norway. 
Denmark. 
Ireland. 
Scotland. 
Scotland. 
Germany. 
Germany. 
Germany. 
Germany. 
Germany. 
Germany. 
Germany. 
Germany. 
Holland. 
France. 
England. 
Russia. 
Germany. 
Engla7id. 
England. 
.    Italy. 
France. 
Austria. 
Ireland. 
Italy. 
Germany. 
Germany. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 


87 


Royal  Society 
University  of  St.  Andrews 
University  of  St.  Petersburg 
University  of  Salamanca    . 
University  of  Strassburg 
University  of  Tubingen 
University  of  Upsala     . 
University  of  Utrecht 
University  of  Zurich  . 


.     England. 

Scotland. 

Russia. 

.    Spain. 

.     Germany. 

Germany. 

Sweden. 

Holland. 

Switzerland. 


From  other  Countries. 


University  of  Melbourne 
Syrian  Protestant  College 
University  of  Tokio 


A  ustralia. 
Syria. 
Japan. 


The  chairman  then  announced  that  the  exercises  were  at 
an  end,  but  invited  the  delegates  and  the  Princeton  trus- 
tees and  faculty  to  meet  immediately  in  the  Chancellor 
Green  Library  and  be  presented  to  one  another.  Accord- 
ingly, the  long  procession  of  delegates  streamed  eastward 
over  the  lawns,  and  there  was  much  hand-shaking,  though 
necessarily  but  little  conversation,  in  the  rotunda  of  the 
library,  where  there  was  barely  room  to  stand.  Here  were 
displayed  most  of  the  congratulatory  addresses  from  uni- 
versities, colleges,  and  learned  societies  —  a  brilliant  collec- 
tion of  beautifully  executed  letters,  most  of  them  in  Latin 
and  on  parchment,  and  many  of  them  adorned  with  gor- 
geous hand  illuminations  in  mediaeval  style. 

There  was  also  an  exhibition,  in  the  Trustees'  Room,  of  a 
collection  of  documents  and  relics  connected  with  the  origin 


88  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

and  history  of  the  old  College  of  New  Jersey,  together  with 
a  collection  of  Princetoniana,  which,  for  want  of  space,  did 
not  include,  however,  the  Pyne-Henry  collection  of  some 
six  hundred  autographs  and  documents,  the  Libbey  collec- 
tion of  several  hundred  books  and  pamphlets,  and  the  grow- 
ing McAlpin  collection.     There  were  displayed  : 


1.  The  New  York  Post  Boy,  No.  213,  Feb.  16,  1746-7,  containing 

an  announcement  of  the  granting  of  the  first  charter,  Oct.  22, 
1746.     Libbey  Collection. 

2.  The  Charter  of  1748,  original  document.     College  Archives. 

3.  The  first  minutes  of  the  trustees,  1748.     College  Archives. 

4.  The  watch  of  Vice-President  Burr. 

5.  A  cane  from  wood  of  the  Log  College.      Presented  by  the  Rev. 

F.  Beck  Harbaugh. 

6.  *The  Sesquicentennial  Memorial  Medal,  in  gold.     Morgan  Col- 

lection. 

7.  Davies'  and  Tennent's  General  Account  of  the  College  of  New 

Jersey.       First    edition,    quarto,    8    pp..    New    York,    1752. 
Loaned  by  William  R.  Weeks,  Esq. 

8.  Davies'  and  Tennent's  General  Account  of  the  College  of  New 

Jersey.     Second  edition,  folio,  8  pp.,  London,  1754.      [Facsim- 
ile.]     Loaned  by  William  R.  Weeks,  Esq. 

9.  Davies'  and  Tennent's  General  Account  of  the  College  of  New 

Jersey.     Third  edition,  folio,  8  pp.,  Edinburgh,  1754.     Loaned 
by  William  R.  Weeks,  Esq. 

*  The  medal  was  designed  by  Mr.  Thomas  Shields  Clark,  '82.  It  is  three  inches  in 
diameter.  On  its  face  is  a  representation  of  Nassau  Hall,  standing  amid  the  elms  of 
the  campus,  and  below  is  the  legend  Avla  Nassovica,  MDCCCXCVI.  On  the 
back  is  the  inscription  (in  Augustan  capitals),  qvod   antea   fvit   collegivm   neo- 

CAESARIENSE  NVNC  ANNIS  CL  IMPLETIS  VNIVERSITAS  PRINCETONIENSIS  SAECVLVM  SPEC- 
TAT  NOVVM.  Above  this,  in  smaller  letters  in  a  Roman  bracket,  is  the  oldest  motto 
of  Princeton — dei  svb  nvmine  viget.  The  medal  was  struck  at  the  United  States 
mint  in  Philadelphia.  The  issue  consists  of  one  copy  in  gold,  thirty  in  silver,  and  five 
hundred  in  bronze.     There  are  also  two  proof  copies  in  bronze. 


br. 


1 11^ 

|«D> 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  89 

10.  Davies'  and  Tennent's  General  Account  of  the  College  of  New 

Jersey.  Fourth  edition,  small  octavo,  i6  pp.,  Edinburgh,  1754. 
Loaned  by  William  R.  Weeks,  Esq. 

1 1.  Petition  of  Gilbert  Tennent  and  Samuel  Davies  in  the  name  of 

the  College.  The  edition  of  1752,  both  Edinburgh  editions, 
and  the  petition  are  original  copies,  and  in  each  case  the  only 
copies  known.  No.  8  is  a  facsimile  of  the  only  known  copy, 
which  is  in  the  British  Museum. 

12.  Diary  of  President  Davies,  1753-54.     This  is  a  record  of  the 

trip  for  which  the  General  Account  was  prepared. 

13.  Blair's  Account  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.     Woodbridge, 

New  Jersey,  1 764. 

14.  Witherspoon's  Address  in  Behalf  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

15.  Green's  Address  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

16.  Jonathan   Edwards'  Bible  with    his  autograph.      Presented  by 

the  Rev.  W.  H.  Prestley. 

17.  President  Burr's  Account-book.     Open  at  account  with  Jonathan 

Edwards. 

18.  President    Burr's    Manuscript    Sermons.       Presented   by    Mrs. 

Eli  Whitney. 

19.  Library  Catalogue,  1760.     Scribner  Collection. 

20.  The  Military  Glory  of  Great  Britain,  a  commencement  exercise, 

1762. 

21.  A  Poem  on  the  Rising  Glory  of  America,  a  commencement  ex- 

ercise, 1 771. 

22.  Wansey's    Journal,    extra    illustrated.      Open     at    account    of 

Princeton  as  it  was  in  1794.     McAlpin  Collection. 

23.  Belcher's  Commission  as  Governor. 

24.  Autograph  Letter  of  Governor  Belcher. 

25.  Autograph  of  Governor  Belcher  in  a  book  given  by  him  to  the 

library. 

26.  President  Burr's  Sermon  at  the  Interment  of  Governor  Belcher. 

27.  Autographs  of  President  Dickinson,   President  Burr,  President 

Davies,  President  Finley,  President  Witherspoon,  President 
Smith,  President  Green,  President  Carnahan,  President  Mc- 
Cosh.      Pyne-Henry  Collection. 


90  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

28.  Consent  of  New  York  Trustees  to  locate  the  College  at  Prince- 

ton.     Pyne-Henry  Collection. 

29.  Accounts  of  Samuel  Hazard,  1751. 

30.  Record  of  the  sale  of  a  negro  to  President  Burr. 

31.  Scheme  of  a  Lottery  for  the  College,  1763. 

32.  Subscription  List,  1802. 

^^.   Petition  of  Trustees  to  the  General  Assembly,  1779. 

34.  Petition  of  Trustees  to  Freeholders. 

35.  Bill  for  lumber,  1764. 

36.  Bill  for  Trustee  Dinner,  1771. 

Sy.  Autographs  of  Benjamin  Rush,  1760;  Richard  Rush,  1797;  John 
Beatty,  1769;  Elias  Boudinot,  Richard  Stockton,  1748;  Oliver 
Ellsworth,  1766;  James  Caldwell  ("the  Rebel  High-priest"), 
1759;  Henry  Lee  ("Light-Horse  Harry"),  1772. 

38.  President  James  Madison's  Diploma  as  LL.D. 

39.  Deed  signed  by  Presidents  Madison  and  Monroe. 

40.  Autograph  Letter  of  President  Madison  announcing  the  delivery 

of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States. 

41.  Autograph  of  Vice-President  Burr. 

42.  Receipt  for  Burr's  board  and  washing. 

43.  Autograph  Letter  of  Vice-President  Dallas. 

Nos.  29  to  43  belong  to  the  Pyne-Henry  Collection. 

44.  Old  Diplomas.      Libbey  Collection. 

45.  Diploma  of  George  Dufifield,  1752,  Chaplain  of  the  Continental 

Congress.      Presented  by  George  Duffield,  M.D.,  of  Detroit. 

46.  Triennial  Catalogue,  1773.     Libbey  Collection. 

47.  Broadside  Catalogue,  1805.      Libbey  Collection. 

48.  Commencement  Programme,  i  760.      Libbey  Collection. 

49.  Nassau  Hall  as  it  was  in  1760.      Libbey  Collection. 

50.  Portrait  of  Henry  Lee  ("  Light- Horse  Harry"),  1773.      Pyne- 

Henry  Collection. 

51.  Views   of  the  proposed    library   building,    the    west    front,    the 

quadrangle,  the  tower. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  91 

52.  Autograph  of  William  of  Nassau,  in  whose  honor  Nassau  Hall 

was  named.      Pyne- Henry  Collection. 

53.  Autograph  of  George  II.,  under  whom  the  charter  was  received. 

54.  Some  official  publications  and  periodicals,  edited  in  whole  or  in 

part  by  members  of  the  university. 

Long  before  nine  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  first  day, 
Alexander  Hall  began  to  fill  again,  this  time  with  an  audi- 
ence more  generally  composed  of  ladies  than  in  the  morning 
or  afternoon.  When  Mr.  Walter  Damrosch  tapped  for  si- 
lence, the  auditorium  was  completely  occupied  in  every  part, 
hundreds  being  obliged  to  stand  in  the  aisles  and  back  of 
the  seats  in  the  gallery. 

The  programme  was  as  follows : 

I.    Jubilee  ©verture weber 

11.    "dnfinlSbeCt  Ssmpbon?        ....    Schubert 

a.  Allegro  Moderate 

b.  Andante  con  moto 

HI.   Mal&weben wagner 

INTERMISSION 

IV.    aca&emic  Jfestival  Overture  ■   brahms 

(Composed  for  the  Festival  of  the  University  of  Breslau) 

V.    csavotte  for  Strings       .....    bach 

VI.     poeme  SsmpbOnique,  "Le  Rouet  d'Omphale" 

Saint-Saens 

VII.    ^arcbe  Solennelle      .      .      .        Tschaikowsky 

Mr.  WALTER  DAMROSCH,  Conductor 


92  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

When,  in  Weber's  Jubilee  Overture,  the  broad  strains  of 
the  national  anthem  emerged  from  the  climax  of  complicated 
harmonies,  the  audience  rose  by  a  common  and  spontaneous 
impulse.  It  was  generally  remarked  that  the  programme 
was  happily  arranged  to  produce  a  cumulative  effect,  and 
the  march  by  Tschaikowsky  was  a  grand  and  appropriate 
conclusion. 


The  Second  Day. 

Wednesday,  the  second  day,  was  devoted  to  the  alumni 
and  students,  in  the  sense  that  the  delegates  were  allowed 
to  rest  somewhat  from  the  fatigues  of  Tuesday,  and  further- 
more because  it  terminated  in  the  great  torchlight  procession 
in  which  Princeton  men  were  almost  the  only  element.  But 
it  might  as  fittingly  have  been  called  the  day  devoted  to  lit- 
erature, for  the  most  memorable  of  its  events  were  the  Ora- 
tion and  the  Poem,  both,  to  be  sure,  by  Princeton  graduates. 
At  half-past  ten,  as  upon  the  preceding  morning,  the  aca- 
demic procession  formed  in  Marquand  Chapel,  and  marched, 
through  even  a  denser  throng,  to  Alexander  Hall,  which  was 
filled  with  a  large  audience.  Mr.  Charles  E.  Green  intro- 
duced Governor  John  W.  Griggs,  of  New  Jersey,  ex-officio 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  who  presided  during  the 
morning,  and  whose  first  duty  it  was  to  present  the  Rever- 
end Doctor  Henry  van  Dyke,  of  New  York  City,  a  graduate 
of  the  College  in  the  class  of  1873,  representing  the  Clio- 
sophic  Society,  who  recited,  with  refinement  and  deep 
feeling,  this  Academic  Ode : 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  93 

THE   BUILDERS. 


Into  the  dust  of  the  making  of  man 
Spirit  was  breathed  when  his  Hfe  began, 
Lifting  him  up  from  his  low  estate 
With  masterful  passion,  the  wish  to  create. 
Out  of  the  dust  of  his  making,  man 
Fashioned  his  works  as  the  ages  ran ; 
Palace  and  fortress  and  temple  and  tower, 
Filling  the  world  with  the  proof  of  his  power. 
The  clay  wherein  God  made  him 
Grew  plastic  and  obeyed  him; 
The  trees,  high-arching  o'er  him, 
Fell  everywhere  before  him  ; 
The  hills,  in  silence  standing. 
Gave  up,  at  his  commanding. 
Their  ancient  rock  foundations, 
To  strengthen  his  creations  ; 
And  all  the  metals  hidden 
Came  forth  as  they  were  bidden. 
To  help  his  high  endeavour. 
And  build  a  house  to  stand  forever. 


n 

The  monuments  of  mortals 

Are  as  the  flower  of  the  grass  ; 
Through  Time's  dim  portals 

A  voiceless,  viewless  wind  doth  pass ; 
And  where  it  breathes,  the  brightest  blooms  decay. 
The  forests  bend  to  earth  more  deeply  day  by  day, 
And  all  man's  mighty  buildings  fade  away. 
One  after  one, 
They  pay  to  that  dumb  breath 
The  tribute  of  their  death, 

And  are  undone. 
The  towers  incline  to  dust, 
The  massy  girders  rust, 
The  domes  dissolve  in  air, 
The  pillars  that  upbear 


94  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

The  woven  arches  crumble,  stone  by  stone, 
While  man  the  builder  looks  about  him  in  despair. 
For  all  his  works  of  pride  and  power  are  overthrown. 


Ill 

A  Voice  spake  out  of  the  sky  : 
"  Set  thy  desires  more  high. 
Thy  buildings  fade  away 
Because  thou  buildest  clay. 
Now  make  the  fabric  sure 
With  stones  that  shall  endure. 
Hewn  from  the  spiritual  rock. 

The  immortal  towers  of  the  soul 
At  Time's  dissolving  touch  shall  mock. 
And  stand  secure  while  aeons  roll." 


IV 

Well  did  the  wise  in  heart  rejoice 
To  hear  the  secret  summons  of  that  Voice, 
And  patiently  begin 
The  builder's  work  within  ; 
Houses  not  made  with  hands, 
Nor  founded  on  the  sands. 
And  thou,  revered  Mother,  at  whose  call 
We  come  to  keep  thy  joyous  festival, 
And  celebrate, 
With  fitting  state, 
The  glory  of  thy  labours  on  the  walls  of  Truth, 
Through  seven-score  years  and  ten  of  thine  eternal  youth, - 
A  master  builder  thou, 
And  on  thy  shining  brow. 
Like  Cybele,  in  fadeless  light  dost  wear 
A  diadem  of  turrets,  strong  and  fair. 


I  see  thee  standing  in  a  lonely  land, 
But  late  and  hardly  won  from  solitude, 

Unpopulous  and  rude, — 
On  that  far  western  shore  I  see  thee  stand. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  96 

Like  some  young  goddess  from  a  brighter  strand  ; 

While  in  thine  eyes  a  radiant  thought  is  born, 

EnkindHng  all  thy  beauty  like  the  morn, 

And  guiding  to  thy  work  a  powerful  hand. 

Sea-like  the  forest  rolled  in  waves  of  green, 

And  few  the  lights  that  glimmered,  leagues  between. 

High  in  the  North,  for  four-score  years  alone, 

Fair  Harvard's  earliest  beacon-tower  had  shone  ; 

Then  Yale  was  lighted,  and  an  answering  ray 

Flashed  from  the  meadows  by  New  Haven  Bay. 

But  deeper  spread  the  woodland,  and  more  dark, 

Where  first  Neshaminy  received  the  spark 

Of  sacred  learning  to  a  frail  abode. 

And  nursed  the  holy  fire  until  it  glowed. 

Thine  was  the  courage,  thine  the  larger  look. 

That  raised  yon  taper  from  its  humble  nook ; 

Thine  was  the  hope,  and  thine  the  stronger  will. 

That  built  the  beacon  here  on  Princeton  hill. 
"  New  light !  "   men  cried,  and  murmured  that  it  came 

From  an  unsanctioned  source,  with  lawless  flame; 

Too  free  it  shone,  for  still  the  church  and  school 

Must  only  shine  according  to  their  rule. 

But  Princeton  answered,  in  her  nobler  mood, 
"  God  made  the  light,  and  all  the  light  is  good. 

There  is  no  war  between  the  old  and  new  ; 

The  conflict  lies  between  the  false  and  true. 

The  stars  that  high  in  heaven  their  courses  run. 

In  glory  differ,  but  their  light  is  one. 

The  beacons  gleaming  o'er  the  sea  of  life, 

Are  rivals  but  in  radiance,  not  in  strife. 

Shine  on,  ye  sister  towers,  across  the  night ! 

I  too  will  build  a  lasting  home  for  light." 


VI 

Brave  was  that  word  of  faith,  and  bravely  was  it  kept : 
With  never-wearying  zeal,  that  faltered  not,  nor  slept. 
She  toiled  to  raise  her  tower ;   and  while  she  firmly  laid 
The  deep  foundation-walls,  at  all  her  toil  she  prayed. 
And  men  who  loved  the  truth,  because  it  made  them  free, 
And  men  who  saw  the  two-fold  word  of  God  agree, 


96  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Reading  the  book  of  nature  and  the  sacred  page 

By  the  same  inward  ray  that  grows  from  age  to  age, 

Were  built  like  living  stones  that  beacon  to  uplift, 

And,  drawing  light  from  Heaven,  gave  to  the  world  the  gift. 

Nor  ever,  while  they  searched  the  secrets  of  the  earth, 

Or  traced  the  stream  of  life  through  mystery  to  its  birth ; 

Nor  ever,  while  they  taught  the  lightning  flash  to  bear 

The  messages  of  man  in  silence  through  the  air, 

Fell  from  that  home  of  light  one  false  perfidious  ray, 

To  blind  the  trusting  heart  or  lead  the  life  astray; 

But  still,  while  knowledge  grew  more  luminous  and  broad. 

It  lit  the  path  of  faith,  and  showed  the  way  to  God. 

VII 

Yet  not  for  peace  alone 

Labour  the  builders. 
Work  that  in  peace  has  grown 
Swiftly  is  overthrown. 
When  from  the  darkening  skies 
Storm-clouds  of  wrath  arise, 
And  through  the  cannons'  crash 
War's  deadly  lightning-flash 

Smites  and  bewilders. 
Ramparts  of  strength  must  frown 
Round  every  placid  town 

And  city  splendid ; 
All  that  our  fathers  wrought 
With  true  prophetic  thought, 

Must  be  defended. 

VIII 

But  who  should  raise  protecting  walls  for  thee. 
Thou  young,  defenceless  land  of  liberty  ? 
Or  who  could  build  the  fortress  strong  enough, 
Or  stretch  the  mighty  bulwark  long  enough 

To  hold  thy  far-extended  coast, 

Against  the  overweening  host. 
That  took  the  open  path  across  the  sea. 

And,  like  a  tempest,  poured 

Their  desolating  horde 
To  quench  thy  dawning  light  in  gloom  of  tyranny  ? 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  97 

Yet  not  unguarded  thou  wert  found, 
When  on  thy  shore  with  sullen  sound 
The  blaring  trumpets  of  an  unjust  king 
Proclaimed  invasion.     From  the  insulted  ground, 
In  freedom's  desperate  hour,  there  seemed  to  spring 
Invisible  walls  for  her  defense; 
Not  trembling,  like  those  battlements  of  stone 
That  fell  in  fear  when  Joshua's  horns  were  blown  ; 
But  standing  firmer,  growing  still  more  dense 
With  every  new  assault  of  alien  insolence  : 
While  cannon  roared,  and  flashed,  and  roared  again. 
In  sovereign  pride  the  living  rampart  rose, 
To  meet  the  onset  of  imperious  foes 
With  a  long  line  of  brave,  unconquerable  men. 
This  was  thy  fortress,  well-defended  land. 
And  on  these  walls  the  patient,  building  hand 
Of  Princeton  laboured  with  the  force  of  ten. 
Her  sons  were  foremost  in  the  furious  fight: 
Her  sons  were  firmest  to  uphold  the  right 
In  council-chambers  of  the  new-born  state, 
And  prove  that  he  who  would  be  free  must  first  be  great 
Of  heart,  and  high  in  thought,  and  strong 
In  purpose  not  to  do  or  suffer  wrong. 
Such  were  the  men,  impregnable  to  fear. 
Whose  patriot  hearts  were  moulded  here ; 
And  when  war  shook  the  land  with  threatening  shock, 
The  men  of  Princeton  stood  like  muniments  of  rock. 

Nor  has  the  breath  of  Time 

Dissolved  that  proud  array 

Of  imperturbable  strength  ; 

For  though  the  rocks  decay. 

And  all  the  iron  bands 
Of  earthly  strongholds  are  unloosed  at  length. 
And  buried  deep  in  gray  oblivion's  sands  ; 

The  work  that  heroes'  hands 
Wrought  in  the  light  of  freedom's  natal  day 

Shall  never  fade  away; 

But  lifts  itself,  sublime. 

Into  a  lucid  sphere. 

For  ever  still  and  clear. 


98  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

And  far  above  the  devastating  breath  of  Time  ; 
Preserving,  in  the  memory  of  the  fathers'  deed, 
A  never-failing  fortress  for  their  children's  need. 

There  we  confirm  our  hearts  to-day ;  and  there  we  read, 
On  many  a  stone,  the  signature  of  fame, 
The  builder's  mark,  our  Alma  Mater's  name. 

IX 

Bear  with  us  then  a  moment,  if  we  turn 
From  all  the  present  splendours  of  this  place, — 
The  lofty  towers  that  like  a  dream  have  grown 
Where  once  old  Nassau  Hall  stood  all  alone, — 
Back  to  that  ancient  time,  with  hearts  that  burn 
In  filial  reverence  and  pride,  to  trace 

The  glory  of  our  Mother's  best  degree, 
In  that  "  high  son  of  Liberty," 
Who  like  a  granite  block 
Riven  from  Scotland's  rock 
Stood  loyal  here  to  keep  Columbia  free. 
Born  far  away  beyond  the  ocean's  roar, 
He  found  his  fatherland  upon  this  shore ; 
And  every  drop  of  ardent  blood  that  ran 
Through  his  great  heart  was  true  American. 
He  held  no  weak  allegiance  to  a  distant  throne, 
But  made  his  new-found  country's  cause  his  own  ; 
In  peril  and  distress. 
In  toil  and  weariness. 
When  darkness  overcast  her 
With  shadows  of  disaster. 
And  voices  of  confusion 
Proclaimed  her  hope  delusion, 
Robed  in  his  preacher's  gown. 
He  dared  the  danger  down  ; 
Like  some  old  prophet  chanting  an  inspired  rune. 
Through  freedom's  councils  rang  the  voice  of  Witherspoon. 
And  thou,  my  country,  write  it  on  thy  heart  : 
Thy  sons  are  they  who  nobly  take  thy  part ; 
Who  dedicates  his  manhood  at  thy  shrine. 
Wherever  born,  is  born  a  son  of  thine. 
Foreign  in  name,  but  not  in  soul,  they  come 
To  find  in  thee  their  long-desired  home ; 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  99 

Lovers  of  liberty,  and  haters  of  disorder. 
They  shall  be  built  in  strength  along  thy  border. 
Ah,  dream  not  that  thy  future  foes 

Will  all  be  foreign-born  ; 

Turn  thy  clear  look  of  scorn 
Upon  thy  children  who  oppose 
Their  passions  wild  and  policies  of  shame, 
To  wreck  the  righteous  splendours  of  thy  name  ! 
Untaught  and  over-confident  they  rise. 
With  folly  on  their  tongues  and  envy  in  their  eyes ; 
Strong  to  destroy,  but  powerless  to  create. 
And  ignorant  of  all  that  made  our  fathers  great ; 
Their  hands  would  take  away  thy  golden  crown, 
And  shake  the  pillars  of  thy  freedom  down 
In  Anarchy's  ocean,  dark  and  desolate. 

Oh,  should  that  storm  descend, 

What  fortress  shall  defend 

The  land  our  fathers  wrought  for, 

The  liberties  they  fought  for  ? 

What  bulwark  shall  secure 
Her  shrines  from  sacrilege  and  keep  her  altars  pure  ? 
Then,  ah  then, 

As  in  the  olden  days. 

The  builders  must  upraise 
A  rampart  of  indomitable  men. 

Once  again. 
Dear  Mother,  if  thy  heart  and  hand  be  true. 
There  will  be  building  work  for  thee  to  do. 

Yea,  more  than  once  again, 
Thou  shalt  win  lasting  praise. 
And  never-dying  honour  shall  be  thine. 
For  setting  many  stones  in  that  illustrious  line. 

To  stand  unshaken  in  the  swirling  strife. 

And  guard  their  country's  honour  as  her  life ! 


Softly,  my  harp,  and  let  me  lay  the  touch 
Of  silence  on  these  rudely  clanging  strings  : 

For  he  who  sings 
Even  of  noble  conflicts  overmuch, 
Loses  the  inward  sense  of  better  things  ; 


100  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

And  he  who  makes  a  boast 
Of  knowledge,  darkens  that  which  counts  the  most, — 

The  insight  of  a  wise  humility 
That  reverently  adores  what  none  can  see. 
The  glory  of  our  life  below 

Comes  not  from  what  we  do,  or  what  we  know, 
But  dwells  forevermore  in  what  we  are. 
There  is  an  architecture  grander  far 
Than  all  the  fortresses  of  war ; 
More  inextinguishably  bright 
Than  learning's  lonely  towers  of  light. 
Framing  its  walls  of  faith  and  hope  and  love 
In  deathless  souls  of  men,  it  lifts  above 

The  frailty  of  our  earthly  home 
An  everlasting  dome ; 
The  sanctuary  of  the  human  host. 
The  living  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

XI 

If  music  led  the  builders  long  ago, 

When  Arthur  planned  the  halls  of  Camelot, 
And  made  the  mystic  city  swiftly  grow. 

Like  some  strange  flower  in  that  forsaken  spot ; 
What  sweeter  music  shall  we  bring. 
To  weave  a  harmony  divine 

Of  prayer  and  holy  thought, 
Into  the  labours  of  this  loftier  shrine, 

This  consecrated  hill. 
Where,  through  so  many  a  year, 

The  hands  of  faith  have  wrought, 

With  toil  serene  and  still. 
And  heavenly  hope,  to  rear 
The  eternal  dwelling  of  the  Only  King? 

Here  let  no  martial  trumpet  blow. 
Nor  instruments  of  pride  proclaim 
The  loud  exultant  notes  of  fame. 

But  let  the  chords  be  clear  and  low. 

And  let  the  anthem  deeper  grow. 

And  let  it  move  more  solemnly  and  slow, — 
Like  that  which  came 
From  angels'  lips,  when  first  they  hymned  their  Maker's  name 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  101 

For  only  such  an  ode 
Can  seal  the  harmony 
Of  that  deep  masonry 
Wherein  the  soul  of  man  is  framed  for  God's  abode. 

XII 

O  thou  whose  boundless  love  bestows 

The  joy  of  earth,  the  hope  of  heaven  ; 
Thou  whose  unchartered  mercy  flows 

O'er  all  the  blessings  Thou  hast  given : 
Thou  by  whose  light  alone  we  see ; 
Thou  by  whose  truth  our  souls,  set  free, 
Are  made  imperishably  strong. 
Hear  thou  the  solemn  music  of  our  song! 

Grant  us  the  knowledge  that  we  need 

To  solve  the  questions  of  the  mind  ; 
Light  Thou  our  candle  while  we  read, 

And  keep  our  hearts  from  going  blind  ; 
Enlarge  our  vision  to  behold 
The  wonders  Thou  hast  wrought  of  old  ; 
Reveal  Thyself  in  every  law. 
And  gild  the  towers  of  truth  with  holy  awe. 

Be  Thou  our  strength  when  war's  wild  gust 

Rages  about  us,  loud  and  fierce; 
Confirm  our  souls,  and  let  our  trust 

Be  like  a  wall  that  none  can  pierce ; 
Give  us  the  courage  that  prevails, 
The  steady  faith  that  never  fails  ; 
Help  us  to  stand,  in  every  fight. 
Firm  as  a  fortress  to  defend  the  right. 

O  God,  make  of  us  what  Thou  wilt ; 

Guide  Thou  the  labour  of  our  hand  ; 
Let  all  our  work  be  surely  built 

As  Thou,  the  Architect,  hast  planned. 
But  whatsoe'er  Thy  power  shall  make 
Of  these  frail  lives,  do  not  forsake 
Thy  dwelling.      Let  Thy  presence  rest 
Forever  in  the  temple  of  our  breast. 


102  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

The  poem  was  listened  to  with  close  attention  and  mani- 
fest appreciation,  being  spoken  so  clearly  that  every  one 
could  hear  and  understand  each  verse.  "  It  soared  stead- 
ily," as  a  good  critic  observed,  "and  rested  at  a  high  point." 
It  was  greeted  by  warm  applause. 

After  a  selection  of  music.  Professor  Woodrow  Wilson, 
of  the  class  of  1879,  representing  the  American  Whig  Soci- 
ety, was  introduced  by  Governor  Griggs,  and  delivered  the 
oration,  entitled  "  Princeton  in  the  Nation's  Service." 

When  Professor  Wilson  rose  to  speak,  the  members  of 
the  class  of  1879,  ^^^o  were  seated  together,  stood  up  to 
greet  him,  but  their  cheers  were  drowned  in  those  of  the 
whole  assembly.  The  oration  was  interrupted  by  applause 
at  several  points,  particularly  when  the  orator  pleaded  for 
sound  and  conservative  government,  and  an  education  that 
shall  draw  much  of  its  life  from  the  best  and  oldest  litera- 
ture. At  its  conclusion  the  cheering  was  general  and  long- 
continued. 


PRINCETON    IN    THE    NATION'S    SERVICE. 

Princeton  pauses  to  look  back  upon  her  past  to-day,  not 
as  an  old  man  grown  reminiscent,  but  as  a  prudent 
man,  still  in  his  youth  and  lusty  prime,  and  at  the 
threshold  of  new  tasks,  who  would  remind  himself  of 
his  origin  and  lineage,  recall  the  pledges  of  his  youth, 
assess  as  at  a  turning  in  his  life  the  duties  of  his  station. 
We  look  back  only  a  little  way  to  our  birth  ;  but  the 
brief  space  is  quick  with  movement  and  incident  enough 
to  crowd  a  great  tract  of  time.  Turn  back  only  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  you  are  deep  within  quiet 
colony  times,  before  the  Erench  or  Indian  war  or  thought 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  103 

of  separation  from  England.  But  a  great  war  is  at 
hand.  Forces  long  pent  up  and  local  presently  spread 
themselves  at  large  upon  the  continent,  and  the  whole 
scene  is  altered.  The  brief  plot  runs  with  a  strange  force 
and  haste  :  First,  a  quiet  group  of  peaceful  colonies,  very 
placid  and  commonplace  and  dull,  to  all  seeming,  in  their 
patient  working  out  of  a  slow^  development;  then,  of  a 
sudden,  a  hot  fire  of  revolution,  a  quick  release  of  power, 
as  if  of  forces  long  pent  up,  but  set  free  at  last  in  the 
generous  heat  of  the  new  day ;  the  mighty  processes  of 
a  great  migration,  the  vast  spaces  of  a  waiting  conti- 
nent filled  almost  suddenly  with  hosts  bred  in  the  spirit 
of  conquest;  a  constant  making  and  renewing  of  gov- 
ernments, a  stupendous  growth,  a  perilous  expansion. 
Such  days  of  youth  and  nation-making  must  surely 
count  double  the  slow^er  days  of  maturity  and  calculated 
change,  as  the  spring  counts  double  the  sober  fruitage  of 
the  summer. 

Princeton  was  founded  upon  the  very  eve  of  the  stir- 
ring changes  which  put  this  drama  on  the  stage — not 
to  breed  politicians,  but  to  give  young  men  such  training 
as,  it  might  be  hoped,  would  fit  them  handsomely  for 
the  pulpit  and  for  the  grave  duties  of  citizens  and  neigh- 
bors. A  small  group  of  Presbyterian  ministers  took  the 
initiative  in  its  foundation.  They  acted  without  ecclesi- 
astical authority,  as  if  under  obligation  to  society  rather 
than  to  the  church.  They  had  no  more  vision  of  what 
was  to  come  upon  the  country  than  their  fellow  colonists 
had  ;  they  knew  only  that  the  pulpits  of  the  middle  and 
southern  colonies  lacked  properly  equipped  men,  and  all 
the  youth  in  those  parts  ready  means  of  access  to  the 
higher  sort  of  schooling.  They  thought  the  discipline 
at  Yale  a  little  less  than  liberal,  and  the  training  offered 
as  a  substitute  in  some  quarters  elsewhere  a  good  deal 


104  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

less  than  thorough.  They  wanted  a  "  seminary  of  true 
rehgion  and  good  hterature  "  which  should  be  after  their 
own  model  and  among  their  own  people.  It  was  not  a 
sectarian  school  they  wished.  They  were  acting  as  citi- 
zens, not  as  clergymen,  and  the  charter  they  obtained 
said  never  a  word  about  creed  or  doctrine;  but  they  gave 
religion  the  first  place  in  their  programme,  which  be- 
longed to  it  of  right,  and  the  formation  of  their  college 
they  confided  to  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  one  of 
their  own  number,  a  man  of  such  mastery  as  they  could 
trust.  Their  school  was  first  of  all  merely  a  little  group 
of  students  gathered  about  Mr.  Dickinson  in  Elizabeth. 
Its  master  died  the  very  year  his  labors  began ;  and  it 
was  necessary  to  induce  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr,  one  of  the 
trustees,  to  take  the  college  under  his  own  charge  at 
Newark.  It  was  the  charm  and  power  of  that  memor- 
able young  pastor  and  teacher  which  carried  it  forward 
to  a  final  establishment.  Within  ten  years  many  friends 
had  been  made,  substantial  sums  of  money  secured,  a 
new  and  more  liberal  charter  obtained,  and  a  perma- 
nent home  found  at  Princeton.  And  then  its  second 
president  died,  while  still  in  his  prime,  and  the  succession 
was  handed  on  to  other  leaders  of  like  quality. 

It  was  the  men,  rather  than  their  measures,  as  usual, 
that  had  made  the  college  vital  from  the  first  and  put  it 
in  a  sure  way  to  succeed.  The  charter  was  liberal,  and 
very  broad  ideas  determined  the  policy  of  the  young 
school.  There  were  laymen  upon  its  board  of  trustees, 
as  well  as  clergymen  —  not  all  Presbyterians,  but  all 
lovers  of  progress  and  men  known  in  the  colony.  No 
one  was  more  thoroughly  the  friend  of  the  new  venture 
than  Governor  Belcher,  the  representative  of  the  crown. 
But  the  life  of  the  college  was  in  the  men  that  adminis- 
tered it  and  spoke  in  its  class  rooms,  a  notable  line  of 


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PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  105 

thinkers  and  orators.  There  had  not  been  many  men 
more  to  be  regarded  in  debate  or  in  counsel  in  that  day 
than  Jonathan  Dickinson;  and  Aaron  Burr  was  such  a 
man  as  others  turn  to  and  follow  with  an  admiration  and 
trust  they  might  be  at  a  loss  to  explain,  so  instinctive  is 
it  and  inevitable, — a  man  with  a  touch  of  sweet  majesty 
in  his  presence,  and  a  grace  and  spirit  in  his  manner 
which  more  than  made  amends  for  his  small  and  slender 
figure;  the  unmistakable  fire  of  eloquence  in  him  when 
he  spoke,  and  the  fine  quality  of  sincerity.  Piety  seemed 
with  him  only  a  crowning  grace. 

For  a  few  brief  weeks  after  Burr  w^as  dead  Jonathan 
Edwards,  whom  all  the  world  knows,  was  president  in 
his  stead;  but  death  came  quickly  and  left  the  college 
only  his  name.  Another  orator  succeeded  him,  Samuel 
Davies,  brought  out  of  Virginia,  famous  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  his  years,  you  might  think,  until  you  heard  him 
speak  and  knew  the  charm,  the  utterance,  and  the  char- 
acter that  made  him  great.  He,  too,  was  presently  taken 
by  the  quick  way  of  death,  though  the  college  had  had 
him  but  a  little  while;  and  Samuel  Finley  had  presided 
in  his  stead,  with  wise  sagacity  and  a  quiet  gift  of  leader- 
ship, for  all  too  short  a  time,  and  was  gone,  when  John 
Witherspoon  came  to  reign  in  the  little  academic  king- 
dom for  twenty-six  years.  It  was  by  that  time  the  year 
1768.  Mr.  Dickinson  had  drawn  that  little  group  of  stu- 
dents about  him  under  the  first  charter  only  twenty-one 
years  ago;  the  college  had  been  firmly  seated  in  Prince- 
ton for  only  the  twelve  years  in  which  it  had  seen  Burr 
and  Edwards  and  Davies  and  Finley  die,  and  had  found 
it  not  a  little  hard  to  live  so  long  in  the  face  of  its  losses 
and  the  uneasy  movements  of  the  time.  It  had  been 
brought  to  Princeton  in  the  very  midst  of  the  French  and 
Indian  war,  when  the  country  was  in  doubt  who  should 


106  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

possess  the  continent.  The  deep  excitement  of  the 
Stamp  Act  agitation  had  come,  with  all  its  sinister 
threats  of  embroilment  and  disaffection,  while  yet  the 
college  was  in  its  infancy  and  first  effort  to  live.  It  was 
impossible  it  should  obtain  proper  endowment  or  any 
right  and  equable  development  in  such  a  season.  It 
ought,  by  every  ordinary  rule  of  life,  to  have  been  quite 
snuffed  out  in  the  thick  and  troubled  air  of  the  time.  New 
Jersey  did  not,  like  Virginia  and  Massachusetts,  easily 
form  her  purpose  in  that  day  of  anxious  doubt.  She  was 
mixed  of  many  warring  elements,  as  New  York  also 
was,  and  suffered  a  turbulence  of  spirit  that  did  not  very 
easily  breed  "true  religion  and  good  literature." 

But  your  thorough  Presbyterian  is  not  subject  to  the 
ordinary  laws  of  life  —  is  of  too  stubborn  a  fibre,  too  un- 
relaxing  a  purpose,  to  suffer  mere  inconvenience  to  bring 
defeat.  Difficulty  bred  effort,  rather;  and  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  found  an  institution  ready  to  his  hand  that  had 
come  already  in  that  quickening  time  to  a  sort  of  crude 
maturity.  It  was  no  small  proof  of  its  self-possession 
and  self-knowledge  that  those  who  watched  over  it  had 
chosen  that  very  time  of  crisis  to  put  a  man  like  John 
Witherspoon  at  the  head  of  its  administration,  a  man 
so  compounded  of  statesman  and  scholar,  Calvinist, 
Scotsman,  and  orator  that  it  must  ever  be  a  sore  puzzle 
where  to  place  or  rank  him — whether  among  great  di- 
vines, great  teachers,  or  great  statesmen.  He  seems  to 
be  all  these  and  to  defy  classification,  so  big  is  he,  so 
various,  so  prodigal  of  gifts.  His  vitality  entered  like 
a  tonic  into  the  college,  kept  it  alive  in  that  time  of  peril, 
—  made  it  as  individual  and  inextinguishable  a  force  as 
he  himself  was,  alike  in  scholarship  and  in  public  affairs. 

It  has  never  been  natural,  it  has  seldom  been  possible, 
in  this  country  for  learning  to  seek  a  place  apart  and  hold 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  107 

aloof  from  affairs.  It  is  only  when  society  is  old,  long 
settled  in  its  ways,  confident  in  habit,  and  without  self- 
questionings  upon  any  vital  point  of  conduct,  that  study 
can  affect  seclusion  and  despise  the  passing  interests  of 
the  day.  America  has  never  yet  had  a  season  of  leisured 
quiet  in  which  students  could  seek  a  life  apart  without 
sharp  rigors  of  conscience,  or  college  instructors  easily 
forget  that  they  were  training  citizens  as  well  as  drilling 
pupils;  and  Princeton  is  not  likely  to  forget  that  sharp 
schooling  of  her  youth,  when  she  first  learned  the  lesson 
of  public  service.  She  shall  not  easily  get  John  Wither- 
spoon  out  of  her  constitution. 

It  was  a  piece  of  providential  good  fortune  that  brought 
such  a  man  to  Princeton  at  such  a  time.  He  was  a  man 
of  the  sort  other  men  follow  and  take  counsel  of  gladly, 
and  as  if  they  found  in  him  the  full  expression  of  what  is 
best  in  themselves.  Not  because  he  was  always  wise, 
but  because  he  showed  always  so  fine  an  ardor  for  what- 
ever was  worth  while,  and  of  the  better  part  of  man's 
spirit ;  because  he  uttered  his  thought  with  an  inevitable 
glow  of  eloquence  ;  because  of  his  irresistible  charm  and 
individual  power.  The  lively  wit  of  the  man,  besides, 
struck  always  upon  the  matter  of  his  thought  like  a  ray 
of  light,  compelling  men  to  receive  what  he  said,  or  else 
seem  themselves  opaque  and  laughable.  A  certain 
straightforward  vigor  in  his  way  of  saying  things  gave 
his  style  an  almost  irresistible  power  of  entering  into 
men's  convictions.  A  hearty  honesty  showed  itself  in 
all  that  he  did,  and  won  men's  allegiance  upon  the 
instant.  They  loved  him  even  when  they  had  the  hardi- 
hood to  disagree  with  him. 

He  came  to  the  college  in  1768,  and  ruled  it  till  he 
died,  in  1794.  In  the  very  middle  of  his  term  as  head  of 
the  college  the  Revolution  came,  to  draw  men's  minds 


108  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

imperatively  off  from  everything  but  war  and  politics, 
and  he  turned  with  all  the  force  and  frankness  of  his 
nature  to  the  public  tasks  of  the  great  struggle:  assisted 
in  the  making  of  a  new  constitution  for  the  State  ;  became 
her  spokesman  in  the  Continental  Congress  ;  would  have 
pressed  her  on  if  he  could  to  utter  a  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence of  her  own  before  the  Congress  had  acted ; 
voted  for  and  signed  the  great  Declaration  with  hearty 
good  will  when  it  came  ;  acted  for  the  country  in  matters 
alike  of  war  and  of  finance  ;  stood  forth  in  the  sight  of 
all  the  people  a  great  advocate  and  orator,  deeming  him- 
self forward  in  the  service  of  God  when  most  engaged 
in  the  service  of  men  and  of  liberty.  There  were  but 
broken  sessions  of  the  college  meanwhile.  Each  army 
in  its  turn  drove  out  the  little  group  of  students  who 
clung  to  the  place.  The  college  building  now  became 
a  military  hospital,  and  again  a  barracks  for  the  troops 
—  for  a  little  while,  upon  a  memorable  day  in  1777,  a 
sort  of  stronghold.  New  Jersey's  open  counties  be- 
came, for  a  time,  the  Revolutionary  battle-ground  and 
field  of  manoeuvre.  Swept  through  from  end  to  end  by 
the  rush  of  armies,  the  State  seemed  the  chief  seat  of  the 
war,  and  Princeton  a  central  point  of  strategy.  The 
dramatic  winter  of  i776-'77  no  Princeton  man  could 
ever  forget,  lived  he  never  so  long  —  that  winter  which 
saw  a  year  of  despair  turned  suddenly  into  a  year  of 
hope.  In  July  there  had  been  bonfires  and  boisterous 
rejoicings  in  the  college  yard  and  in  the  village  street 
at  the  news  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  for 
though  the  rest  of  the  country  might  doubt  and  stand 
timid  for  a  little  to  see  the  bold  thing  done.  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon's  pupils  were  in  spirits  to  know  the  fight  was  to  be 
fought  to  a  finish.  Then  suddenly  the  end  had  seemed 
to  come.     Before  the  year  was  out  Washington  was  in 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  109 

the  place,  beaten  and  in  full  retreat,  only  three  thousand 
men  at  his  back,  abandoned  by  his  generals,  deserted  by 
his  troops,  hardly  daring  to  stop  till  he  had  put  the  un- 
bridged  Delaware  between  himself  and  his  enemy.  The 
British  came  close  at  his  heels,  and  the  town  was  theirs 
until  Washington  came  back  again,  the  third  day  of  the 
new  year,  early  in  the  morning,  and  gave  his  view  halloo 
yonder  upon  the  hill,  as  if  he  were  in  the  hunting-field 
again.  Then  there  was  fighting  in  the  very  streets,  and 
cannon  planted  against  the  walls  of  Old  North  herself 
'T  was  not  likely  any  Princeton  man  would  forget  those 
days  when  the  whole  face  of  the  war  was  changed,  and 
New  Jersey  was  shaken  of  the  burden  of  the  fighting. 

There  was  almost  always  something  doing  at  the  place 
when  the  soldiers  were  out,  for  the  strenuous  Scotsman 
who  had  the  college  at  his  heart  never  left  it  for  long  at 
a  time,  for  all  he  was  so  intent  upon  the  public  business. 
It  was  haphazard  and  piecemeal  work,  no  doubt,  but 
there  was  the  spirit  and  the  resolution  of  the  Revolution 
itself  in  what  was  done  —  the  spirit  of  Witherspoon.  It 
was  not  as  if  some  one  else  had  been  master.  Dr.  With- 
erspoon could  have  pupils  at  will.  He  was  so  much  else 
besides  schoolmaster  and  preceptor,  was  so  great  a  figure 
in  the  people's  eye,  went  about  so  like  an  accepted  leader, 
generously  lending  a  great  character  to  a  great  cause, 
that  he  could  bid  men  act  and  know  that  they  would 
heed  him. 

The  time,  as  well  as  his  own  genius,  enabled  him  to 
put  a  distinctive  stamp  upon  his  pupils.  There  was 
close  contact  between  master  and  pupils  in  that  day  of 
beginnings.  There  were  not  often  more  than  a  hundred 
students  in  attendance  at  the  college,  and  the  president, 
for  at  any  rate  half  their  course,  was  himself  their  chief 
instructor.     There  were  two  or  three  tutors  to  whom  the 


110  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

instruction  of  the  lower  classes  was  entrusted ;  Mr. 
Houston  was  professor  of  mathematics  and  natural  phi- 
losophy, and  Dr.  Smith  professor  of  moral  philosophy 
and  divinity ;  but  the  president  set  the  pace.  It  was  he 
who  gave  range  and  spirit  to  the  course  of  study.  He 
lectured  upon  taste  and  style  as  well  as  upon  abstract 
questions  of  philosophy,  and  upon  politics  as  a  science 
of  government  and  of  public  duty  as  little  to  be  forgot- 
ten as  religion  itself  in  any  well-considered  plan  of  life. 
He  had  found  the  college  ready  to  serve  such  purpose 
when  he  came,  because  of  the  stamp  Burr  and  Davies 
and  Finley  had  put  upon  it.  They  had  one  and  all  con- 
sciously set  themselves  to  make  the  college  a  place  where 
young  men's  minds  should  be  rendered  fit  for  affairs,  for 
the  public  ministry  of  the  bench  and  the  senate  as  well  as 
of  the  pulpit.  It  was  in  Finley's  day,  but  just  now  gone 
by,  that  the  college  had  sent  out  such  men  as  William 
Paterson,  Luther  Martin,  and  Oliver  Ellsworth.  Wither- 
spoon  but  gave  quickened  life  to  the  old  spirit  and 
method  of  the  place  where  there  had  been  sound  drill 
from  the  first  in  public  speech  and  public  spirit. 

And  the  Revolution,  when  it  came,  seemed  but  an  ob- 
ject lesson  in  his  scheme  of  life.  It  was  not  simply 
fighting  that  was  done  at  Princeton.  The  little  town 
became  for  a  season  the  centre  of  politics  too  ;  once  and 
again  the  legislature  of  the  State  sat  in  the  College  Hall, 
and  its  revolutionary  Council  of  Safety.  Soldiers  and 
public  men,  whose  names  the  war  was  making  known 
to  every  man,  frequented  the  quiet  place,  and  racy  talk 
ran  high  in  the  jolly  tavern,  where  hung  the  sign  of 
Hudibras.  Finally  the  Federal  Congress  itself  sought 
the  place,  and  filled  the  college  hall  with  a  new  scene, 
sitting  a  whole  season  there  to  do  its  business,  its  presi- 
dent, Elias  Boudinot,  a  trustee  of  the  college.     A  com- 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  111 

mencement  day  came,  which  saw  both  Washington  and 
Witherspoon  on  the  platform  together — the  two  men,  it 
was  said,  who  could  not  be  matched  for  striking  presence 
in  all  the  country — and  the  young  salutatorian  turned  to 
the  country's  leader  to  say  what  it  was  in  the  hearts  of 
all  to  utter.  The  sum  of  the  town's  excitement  was  made 
up  when,  upon  a  notable  last  day  of  October  in  the  year 
1783,  news  of  peace  came  to  that  secluded  hall,  to  add  a 
touch  of  crowning  gladness  to  the  gay  and  brilliant  com- 
pany that  had  met  to  receive  with  formal  welcome  the 
minister  plenipotentiary  but  just  come  from  the  Neth- 
erlands, Washington  moving  amongst  them  the  hero 
whom  the  news  enthroned. 

It  was  no  single  stamp  of  character  that  the  college 
gave  its  pupils.  James  Madison,  Philip  Freneau,  Aaron 
Burr,  and  Harry  Lee  had  come  from  it  almost  at  a  sin- 
gle birth,  between  1771  and  1773  —  James  Madison,  the 
philosophical  statesman,  subtly  compounded  of  learning 
and  practical  sagacity ;  Philip  Freneau,  the  careless  poet 
and  reckless  pamphleteer  of  a  party ;  Aaron  Burr,  with 
genius  enough  to  have  made  him  immortal,  and  un- 
schooled passion  enough  to  have  made  him  infamous ; 
"  Light-horse  Harry  "  Lee,  a  Rupert  in  battle,  a  boy  in 
counsel,  high-strung,  audacious,  wilful,  lovable,  a  figure 
for  romance.  These  men  were  types  of  the  spirit  of 
which  the  college  was  full  —  the  spirit  of  free  individual 
development,  which  found  its  perfect  expression  in  the 
president  himself. 

It  has  been  said  that  Mr.  Madison's  style  in  writing  is 
like  Dr.  Witherspoon's,  albeit  not  so  apt  a  weapon  for 
the  quick  thrust  and  instant  parry;  and  it  is  recalled  that 
Madison  returned  to  Princeton  after  his  graduation,  and 
lingered  yet  another  year  in  study  with  his  master.  But, 
in  fact,   his  style   is  no  more  like  Witherspoon's   than 


112  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

Harry  Lee's  way  of  fighting  was.  No  doubt  there  were 
the  same  firmness  of  touch,  the  same  philosophical 
breadth,  the  same  range  of  topic  and  finished  force  of 
argument  in  Dr.  Witherspoon's  essays  upon  public  ques- 
tions that  are  to  be  found  in  Madison's  papers  in  the 
"Federalist";  but  Dr.  Witherspoon  fought,  too,  with 
the  same  overcoming  dash  that  made  men  know  Harry 
Lee  in  the  field,  albeit  with  different  weapons  and  upon 
another  arena. 

Whatever  we  may  say  of  these  matters,  however,  one 
thing  is  certain :  Princeton  sent  upon  the  public  stage  an 
extraordinary  number  of  men  of  notable  quality  in  those 
days ;  became  herself  for  a  time,  in  some  visible  sort,  the 
academic  centre  of  the  Revolution  ;  fitted,  among  the  rest, 
the  man  in  whom  the  country  was  one  day  to  recognize 
the  chief  author  of  the  federal  constitution.  Princeto- 
nians  are  never  tired  of  telling  how  many  public  men 
graduated  from  Princeton  in  Witherspoon's  time, — 
twenty  senators,  twenty-three  representatives,  thirteen 
governors,  three  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
Union,  one  Vice-President,  and  a  President, —  all  within 
a  space  of  scarcely  twenty  years,  and  from  a  college 
which  seldom  had  more  than  a  hundred  students.  Nine 
Princeton  men  sat  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1787,  and,  though  but  six  of  them  were  Witherspoon's 
pupils,  there  was  no  other  college  that  had  there  so  many 
as  six,  and  the  redoubtable  doctor  might  have  claimed 
all  nine  as  his  in  spirit  and  capacity.  Madison  guided 
the  convention  through  the  critical  stages  of  its  anxious 
work  with  a  tact,  a  gentle  unobtrusiveness,  an  art  of 
leading  without  insisting,  ruling  without  commanding, — 
an  authority,  not  of  tone  or  emphasis,  but  of  apt  sugges- 
tion, such  as  Dr.  Witherspoon  could  never  have  exer- 
cised.    Princeton  men  fathered  both  the  Virginia  plan 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  113 

which  was  adopted,  and  the  New  Jersey  plan  which  was 
rejected;  and  Princeton  men  advocated  the  compromises 
without  which  no  plan  could  have  won  acceptance.  The 
strenuous  Scotsman's  earnest  desire  and  prayer  to  God 
to  see  a  government  set  over  the  nation  that  should  last 
was  realized  as  even  he  might  not  have  been  bold  enough 
to  hope.  No  man  had  ever  better  right  to  rejoice  in 
his  pupils. 

It  would  be  absurd  to  pretend  that  we  can  distinguish 
Princeton's  touch  and  method  in  the  Revolution,  or  her 
distinctive  handiwork  in  the  Constitution  of  the  Union. 
We  can  show  nothing  more  of  historical  fact  than  that 
her  own  president  took  a  great  place  of  leadership  in 
that  time  of  change,  and  became  one  of  the  first  figures 
of  the  age  ;  that  the  college  which  he  led,  and  to  which 
he  gave  his  spirit,  contributed  more  than  her  share  of 
public  men  to  the  making  of  the  nation,  outranked  her 
elder  rivals  in  the  roll-call  of  the  constitutional  conven- 
tion, and  seemed  for  a  little  a  seminary  of  statesmen  rather 
than  a  quiet  seat  of  academic  learning.  What  takes  our 
admiration  and  engages  our  fancy  in  looking  back  to  that 
time  is  the  generous  union  then  established  in  the  col- 
lege between  the  life  of  philosophy  and  the  life  of  the 
State. 

It  moves  her  sons  very  deeply  to  find  Princeton  to 
have  been  from  the  first  what  they  know  her  to  have 
been  in  their  own  day :  a  school  of  duty.  The  Revolu- 
tionary days  are  gone,  and  you  shall  not  find  upon  her 
rolls  another  group  of  names  given  to  public  life  that  can 
equal  her  muster  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution  and  the 
formation  of  the  government.  But  her  rolls  read  since 
the  old  days,  if  you  know  but  a  little  of  the  quiet  life  of 
scattered  neighborhoods,  like  a  roster  of  trustees,  a  list 
of  the  silent  men  who  carry  the    honorable  burdens  of 


114  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

business  and  of  social  obligation  —  of  such  names  as 
keep  credit  and  confidence  in  heart.  They  suggest  a  soil 
full  of  the  old  seed,  and  ready,  should  the  air  of  the  time 
move  shrewdly  upon  it  as  in  the  old  days,  to  spring 
once  more  into  the  old  harvest.  The  various  boisterous 
strength  of  the  young  men  of  affairs  who  went  out  with 
Witherspoon's  touch  upon  them  is  obviously  not  of  the 
average  breed  of  any  place,  but  the  special  fruitage  of  an 
exceptional  time.  Later  generations  inevitably  reverted 
to  the  elder  type  of  Paterson  and  Ellsworth,  the  type  of 
sound  learning  and  stout  character,  without  bold  impulse 
added,  or  any  uneasy  hope  to  change  the  world.  It  has 
been  Princeton's  work,  in  all  ordinary  seasons,  not  to 
change,  but  to  strengthen  society,  to  give,  not  yeast, 
but  bread  for  the  raising. 

It  is  in  this  wise  Princeton  has  come  into  our  own 
hands ;  and  to-day  we  stand  as  those  who  would  count 
their  forces  for  the  future.  The  men  who  made  Prince- 
ton are  dead  ;  those  who  shall  keep  it  and  better  it  still 
live ;  they  are  even  ourselves.  Shall  we  not  ask,  ere  we 
go  forward,  what  gave  the  place  its  spirit  and  its  air  of 
duty  ?  "  We  are  now  men,  and  must  accept  in  the  high- 
est spirit  the  same  transcendent  destiny  ;  and  not  pinched 
in  a  corner,  not  cowards  fleeing  before  a  revolution,  but 
redeemers  and  benefactors,  pious  aspirants  to  be  noble 
clay,  plastic  under  the  Almighty  effort,  let  us  advance 
and  advance  on  chaos  and  the  dark." 

No  one  who  looks  into  the  life  of  the  institution  shall 
find  it  easy  to  say  what  gave  it  its  spirit  and  kept  it  in 
its  character,  the  generations  through;  but  some  things 
lie  obvious  to  the  view  in  Princeton's  case.  She  has 
always  been  a  school  of  religion,  and  no  one  of  her  sons 
who  has  really  lived  her  life  has  escaped  that  steadying 
touch  which  has  made  her  a  school  of  duty.     Religion, 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  115 

conceive  it  but  liberally  enough,  is  the  true  salt  where- 
with to  keep  both  duty  and  learning  sweet  against  the 
taint  of  time  and  change  ;  and  it  is  a  noble  thing  to  have 
conceived  it  thus  liberally,  as  Princeton's  founders  did. 

Churches  among  us,  as  all  the  world  knows,  are  free 
and  voluntary  societies,  separated  to  be  nurseries  of  be- 
lief, not  suffered  to  become  instruments  of  rule ;  and 
those  who  serve  them  can  be  free  citizens  as  well  as 
faithful  churchmen.  The  men  who  founded  Princeton 
were  pastors,  not  ecclesiastics.  Their  ideal  was  the  ser- 
vice of  congregations  and  communities,  not  the  service 
of  a  church.  Duty  with  them  was  a  practical  thing, 
concerned  with  righteousness  in  this  world,  as  well  as 
with  salvation  in  the  next.  There  is  nothing  that  gives 
such  pith  to  public  service  as  religion.  A  God  of  truth 
is  no  mean  prompter  to  the  enlightened  service  of  man- 
kind ;  and  the  character  formed,  as  if  in  His  eye,  has 
always  a  fibre  and  sanction  such  as  you  shall  not  easily 
obtain  for  the  ordinary  man  from  the  mild  promptings 
of  philosophy. 

This,  I  cannot  doubt,  is  the  reason  why  Princeton 
formed  practical  men,  whom  the  world  could  trust  to  do 
its  daily  work  like  men  of  honor.  There  were  men  in 
Dr.  Witherspoon's  day  who  doubted  him  the  right  pre- 
ceptor for  those  who  sought  the  ministry  of  the  church, 
seeing  him  "  as  high  a  son  of  liberty  as  any  man  in 
America,"  and  turned  agitator  rather  than  preacher;  and 
he  drew  about  him,  as  troubles  thickened,  young  poli- 
ticians rather  than  candidates  for  the  pulpit.  But  it  is 
noteworthy  that  observing  men  in  far  Virginia  sent  their 
sons  to  be  with  Dr.  Witherspoon  because  they  saw  in- 
trigue and  the  taint  of  infidelity  coming  upon  their  own 
college  of  William  and  Mary  —  Madison's  father  among 
the  rest;  and  that  young  Madison  went  home  to  read 


116  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

theology  with  earnest  system  ere  he  went  out  to  the  tasks 
of  his  life.  He  had  no  thought  of  becoming  a  minister, 
but  his  master  at  Princeton  had  taken  possession  of  his 
mind  and  had  enabled  him  to  see  what  knowledge  was 
profitable. 

The  world  has  long  thought  that  it  detected  in  the 
academic  life  some  lack  of  sympathy  with  itself,  some 
disdain  of  the  homely  tasks  which  make  the  gross  globe 
inhabitable, —  not  a  little  proud  aloofness  and  lofty  supe- 
riority, as  if  education  always  softened  the  hands  and 
alienated  the  heart.  It  must  be  admitted  that  books  are 
a  great  relief  from  the  haggling  of  the  market,  libraries 
a  very  welcome  refuge  from  the  strife  of  commerce.  We 
feel  no  anxiety  about  ages  that  are  past;  old  books  draw 
us  pleasantly  off  from  responsibility,  remind  us  nowhere 
of  what  there  is  to  do.  We  can  easily  hold  the  service 
of  mankind  at  arm's  length  while  we  read  and  make 
scholars  of  ourselves.  But  we  shall  be  very  uneasy,  the 
while,  if  the  right  mandates  of  religion  are  let  in  upon  us 
and  made  part  of  our  thought.  The  quiet  scholar  has 
his  proper  breeding,  and  truth  must  be  searched  out  and 
held  aloft  for  men  to  see  for  its  own  sake,  by  such  as  will 
not  leave  off  their  sacred  task  until  death  takes  them 
away.  But  not  many  pupils  of  a  college  are  to  be  in- 
vestigators. They  are  to  be  citizens  and  the  world's 
servants  in  every  field  of  practical  endeavor,  and  in  their 
instruction  the  college  must  use  learning  as  a  vehicle  of 
spirit,  interpreting  literature  as  the  voice  of  humanity, — 
must  enlighten,  guide,  and  hearten  its  sons,  that  it  may 
make  men  of  them.  If  it  give  them  no  vision  of  the 
true  God,  it  has  given  them  no  certain  motive  to  prac- 
tice the  wise  lessons  they  have  learned. 

It  is  noteworthy  how  often  God-fearing  men  have 
been  forward  in  those  revolutions  which  have  vindicated 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  117 

rights,  and  how  seldom  in  those  which  have  wrought 
a  work  of  destruction.  There  was  a  spirit  of  practical 
piety  in  the  revolutionary  doctrines  which  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  taught.  No  man,  particularly  no  young  man, 
who  heard  him  could  doubt  his  cause  a  righteous  cause, 
or  deem  religion  aught  but  a  prompter  in  it.  Revolu- 
tion was  not  to  be  distinguished  from  duty  in  Princeton. 
Duty  becomes  the  more  noble  when  thus  conceived  the 
"stern  daughter  of  the  voice  of  God";  and  that  voice 
must  ever  seem  near  and  in  the  midst  of  life  if  it  be 
made  to  sound  dominant  from  the  first  in  all  thought 
of  men  and  the  world.  It  has  not  been  by  accident, 
therefore,  that  Princeton  men  have  been  inclined  to  pub- 
lic life.  A  strong  sense  of  duty  is  a  fretful  thing  in 
confinement,  and  will  not  easily  consent  to  be  kept  at 
home  clapped  up  within  a  narrow  round.  The  univer- 
sity in  our  day  is  no  longer  inclined  to  stand  aloof  from 
the  practical  world,  and,  surely,  it  ought  never  to  have 
had  the  disposition  to  do  so.  It  is  the  business  of  a 
university  to  impart  to  the  rank  and  file  of  the  men  it 
trains  the  right  thought  of  the  world,  the  thought  which 
has  been  tested  and  established,  the  principles  which  have 
stood  through  the  seasons  and  become  at  length  part 
of  the  immemorial  wisdom  of  the  race.  The  object  of 
education  is  not  merely  to  draw  out  the  powers  of  the 
individual  mind:  it  is  rather  its  right  object  to  draw  all 
minds  to  a  proper  adjustment  to  the  physical  and  social 
world  in  which  they  are  to  have  their  life  and  their 
development ;  to  enlighten,  strengthen  and  make  fit. 
The  business  of  the  world  is  not  individual  success,  but 
its  own  betterment,  strengthening,  and  growth  in  spiritual 
insight.  "  So  teach  us  to  number  our  days,  that  we  may 
apply  our  hearts  unto  wisdom,"  is  its  right  prayer  and 
aspiration. 


118  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

It  was  not  a  work  of  destruction  which  Princeton 
helped  forward  even  in  that  day  of  storm  which  came  at 
the  Revolution,  but  a  work  of  preservation.  The  Ameri- 
can Revolution  wrought,  indeed,  a  radical  work  of  change 
in  the  world:  it  created  a  new  nation  and  a  new  polity; 
but  it  was  a  work  of  conservation  after  all,  as  fundamen^ 
tally  conservative  as  the  Revolution  of  1688,  or  the  ex- 
tortion of  Magna  Charta.  A  change  of  allegiance  and 
the  erection  of  a  new  nation  in  the  West  were  its  in- 
evitable results,  but  not  its  objects.  Its  object  was  the 
preservation  of  a  body  of  liberties,  to  keep  the  natural 
course  of  English  development  in  America  clear  of  im- 
pediment. It  was  meant,  not  in  rebellion,  but  in  self- 
defence.  If  it  brought  change,  it  was  the  change  of 
maturity,  the  fulfilment  of  destiny,  the  appropriate  fruit- 
age of  wholesome  and  steady  growth.  It  was  part  of 
English  liberty  that  America  should  be  free.  The 
thought  of  our  Revolution  was  as  quick  and  vital  in  the 
minds  of  Chatham  and  of  Burke  as  in  the  minds  of  Otis 
and  Henry  and  Washington.  There  is  nothing  so  con- 
servative of  life  as  growth ;  when  that  stops,  decay  sets 
in  and  the  end  comes  on  apace.  Progress  is  life,  for  the 
body  politic  as  for  the  body  natural.  To  stand  still  is  to 
court  death. 

Here,  then,  if  you  will  but  look,  you  have  the  law  of 
conservatism  disclosed :  it  is  a  law  of  progress.  But 
not  all  change  is  progress,  not  all  growth  is  the  mani- 
festation of  life.  Let  one  part  of  the  body  be  in  haste  to 
outgrow  the  rest  and  you  have  malignant  disease,  the 
threat  of  death.  The  growth  that  is  a  manifestation  of 
life  is  equable,  draws  its  springs  gently  out  of  the  old 
fountains  of  strength,  builds  upon  old  tissue,  covets  the 
old  airs  that  have  blown  upon  it  time  out  of  mind  in  the 
past.     Colleges  ought  surely  to  be  the  best  nurseries  of 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  119 

such  life,  the  best  schools  of  the  progress  which  con- 
serves. Unschooled  men  have  only  their  habits  to 
remind  them  of  the  past,  only  their  desires  and  their 
instinctive  judgments  of  what  is  right  to  guide  them  into 
the  future.  The  college  should  serve  the  State  as  its 
organ  of  recollection,  its  seat  of  vital  memory.  It  should 
give  the  country  men  who  know  the  probabilities  of 
failure  and  success,  who  can  separate  the  tendencies 
which  are  permanent  from  the  tendencies  which  are  of 
the  moment  merely,  who  can  distinguish  promises  from 
threats,  knowing  the  life  men  have  lived,  the  hopes  they 
have  tested,  and  the  principles  they  have  proved. 

This  College  gave  the  country  at  least  a  handful  of 
such   men,  in   its  infancy,  and  its  president  for  leader. 
The  blood  of  John  Knox  ran  in  Witherspoon's  veins. 
The  great  drift  and  movement  of  English  liberty,  from 
Magna  Charta  down,  was  in  all  his  teachings  ;  his  pupils 
knew  as  well  as  Burke  did  that  to  argue  the  Americans 
out  of  their  liberties  would  be  to  falsify  their  pedigree. 
"In  order  to  prove  that  the  Americans  have  no  right  to 
their  liberties,"  Burke  cried,  "we  are  every  day  endeav- 
oring to  subvert  the  maxims  which  preserve  the  whole 
spirit  of  our  own."     The  very  antiquarians  of  the  law 
stood  ready  with  their  proof  that  the  colonies  could  not 
be  taxed  by  Parliament.     This  Revolution,  at  any  rate, 
was  a  keeping  of  faith  with  the  past.     To  stand  for  it 
was  to  be  like  Hampden,  a  champion  of  law  though  he 
withstood  the  king.     It  was  to  emulate  the  example  of 
the  very  men  who  had  founded  the  government  then  for 
a  little  while  grown  so  tyrannous  and  forgetful  of  its 
great  traditions.     This  was  the  compulsion  of  life,  not 
of  passion,  and  college   halls  were  a  better   school  of 
revolution  than  colonial  assemblies. 

Provided,  of  course,  they  were  guided  by  such  a  spirit 


120  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

as  Witherspoon's.  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  falsify 
the  past.  Lifeless  instruction  will  do  it.  If  you  rob  it 
of  vitality,  stiffen  it  with  pedantry,  sophisticate  it  with 
argument,  chill  it  with  unsympathetic  comment,  you 
render  it  as  dead  as  any  academic  exercise.  The  safest 
way  in  all  ordinary  seasons  is  to  let  it  speak  for  itself: 
resort  to  its  records,  listen  to  its  poets,  and  to  its  masters 
in  the  humbler  art  of  prose.  Your  real  and  proper 
object,  after  all,  is  not  to  expound,  but  to  realize  it,  con- 
sort with  it,  and  make  your  spirit  kin  with  it,  so  that 
you  may  never  shake  the  sense  of  obligation  off.  In 
short,  I  believe  that  the  catholic  study  of  the  world's 
literature  as  a  record  of  spirit  is  the  right  preparation 
for  leadership  in  the  world's  affairs,  if  you  undertake  it 
like  a  man  and  not  like  a  pedant. 

Age  is  marked  in  the  case  of  every  people  just  as  it 
is  marked  in  the  case  of  every  work  of  art,  into  which 
enter  the  example  of  the  masters,  the  taste  of  long 
generations  of  men,  the  thought  that  has  matured,  the 
achievement  that  has  come  with  assurance.  The  child's 
crude  drawing  shares  the  primitive  youth  of  the  first 
hieroglyphics;  but  a  little  reading,  a  few  lessons  from 
some  modern  master,  a  little  time  in  the  Old  World's 
galleries,  set  the  lad  forward  a  thousand  years  and  more, 
make  his  drawing  as  old  as  art  itself.  The  art  of  think- 
ing is  as  old,  and  it  is  the  University's  function  to  impart 
it  in  all  its  length  :  the  stiff  and  difficult  stuffs  of  fact  and 
experience,  of  prejudice  and  affection,  in  which  the  hard 
art  is  to  work  its  will,  and  the  long  and  tedious  combi- 
nation of  cause  and  effect  out  of  which  it  is  to  build  up 
its  results.  How  else  will  you  avoid  a  ceaseless  round 
of  error?  The  world's  memory  must  be  kept  alive,  or 
we  shall  never  see  an  end  of  its  old  mistakes.  We  are 
in  danger  to  lose  our  identity  and  become  infantile  in 


It 


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122  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

not  to  get  a  new  liberty,  but  to  preserve  an  old,  not  to 
break  a  Constitution,  but  to  keep  it.  It  was  the  glory 
of  the  Convention  of  1787  that  it  made  choice  in  the 
framing  of  the  government  of  principles  which  English- 
men everywhere  had  tested,  and  of  an  organization  of 
which  in  every  part  Americans  themselves  had  made 
trial.  In  every  essential  part  they  built  out  of  old  stuffs 
whose  grain  and  fibre  they  knew. 

'T  is  not  in  battles  that  from  youth  we  train 
The  Governor  who  must  be  wise  and  good. 
And  temper  with  the  sternness  of  the  brain 
Thoughts  motherly,  and  meek  as  womanhood. 
Wisdom  doth  live  with  children  round  her  knees : 
Books,  leisure,  perfect  freedom,  and  the  talk 
Man  holds  with  week-day  man  in  the  hourly  walk 
Of  the  mind's  business  ;  these  are  the  degrees 
By  which  true  sway  doth  mount ;  this  is  the  stalk 
True  power  doth  grow  on  ;  and  her  rights  are  these. 

The  men  who  framed  the  government  were  not  radi- 
cals. They  trimmed  old  growths,  and  were  not  forget- 
ful of  old  principles  of  husbandry. 

It  is  plain  that  it  is  the  duty  of  an  institution  of  learn- 
ing, set  in  the  midst  of  a  free  population  and  amidst  signs 
of  social  change,  not  merely  to  implant  a  sense  of  duty, 
but  to  illuminate  duty  by  every  lesson  that  can  be  drawn 
out  of  the  past.  It  is  not  a  dogmatic  process.  I  know 
of  no  book  in  which  the  lessons  of  the  past  are  set  down. 
I  do  not  know  of  any  man  whom  the  world  could  trust 
to  write  such  a  book.  But  it  somehow  comes  about 
that  the  man  who  has  traveled  in  the  realms  of  thought 
brings  lessons  home  with  him  which  make  him  grave 
and  wise  beyond  his  fellows,  and  thoughtful  with  the 
thoughtfulness  of  a  true  man  of  the  world. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  123 

He  is  not  a  true  man  of  the  world  who  knows  only  the 
present  fashions  of  it.  In  good  breeding  there  is  always 
the  fine  savor  of  generations  of  gentlemen,  a  tradition  of 
courtesy,  the  perfect  felicity  that  comes  of  long  practice. 
The  world  of  affairs  is  so  old  no  man  can  know  it  who 
knows  only  that  litde  last  segment  of  it  which  we  call  the 
present.  We  have  a  special  name  for  the  man  who  ob- 
serves only  the  present  fashions  of  the  world ;  and  it  is 
a  less  honorable  name  than  that  which  we  use  to  desis-- 
nate  the  grave  and  thoughtful  gentlemen  who  keep  so 
steadily  to  the  practices  that  have  made  the  world  wise 
and  at  ease  these  hundreds  of  years.  We  cannot  pre- 
tend to  have  formed  the  world,  and  we  are  not  destined 
to  reform  it.  We  cannot  even  mend  it  and  set  it  for- 
ward by  the  reasonable  measure  of  a  single  generation's 
work  if  we  forget  the  old  processes  or  lose  our  mastery 
over  them.  We  should  have  scant  capital  to  trade  on 
were  we  to  throw  away  the  wisdom  we  have  inherited, 
and  seek  our  fortunes  with  the  slender  stock  we  have 
ourselves  accumulated. 

This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  real,  the  prevalent  argu- 
ment for  holding  every  man  we  can  to  the  intimate  study 
of  the  ancient  classics.  Latin  and  Greek  no  doubt  have 
a  grammatical  and  syntactical  habit  which  challenges 
the  mind  that  would  master  it  to  a  severer  exercise  of 
analytical  power  than  the  easy-going  synthesis  of  any 
modern  tongue  demands  ;  but  substitutes  in  kind  may  be 
found  for  that  drill.  What  you  cannot  find  a  substitute 
for  is  the  classics  as  literature  ;  and  there  can  be  no  first- 
hand contact  with  that  literature  if  you  will  not  master 
the  grammar  and  the  syntax  which  convey  its  subtle 
power.  Your  enlightenment  depends  on  the  company 
you  keep.  You  do  not  know  the  world  until  you  know 
the  men  who  have  possessed  it  and  tried  its  ways  before 


124  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

ever  you  were  given  your  brief  run  upon  it.  And  there 
is  no  sanity  comparable  with  that  which  is  got  from  the 
the  thoughts  that  will  keep.  It  is  such  a  schooling  that 
we  get  from  the  world's  literature.  The  books  have  dis- 
appeared which  were  not  genuine, — which  spoke  things 
which,  if  they  were  worth  saying  at  all,  were  not  worth 
hearing  more  than  once,  as  well  as  the  books  which 
spoke  permanent  things  clumsily  and  without  the  gift  of 
interpretation.  The  kind  air  which  blows  from  age  to 
age  has  disposed  of  them  like  vagrant  leaves.  There 
was  sap  in  them  for  a  little,  but  now  they  are  gone,  we 
do  not  know  where.  All  literature  that  has  lasted  has 
this  claim  upon  us :  that  it  is  not  dead ;  but  we  cannot 
be  quite  so  sure  of  any  as  we  are  of  the  ancient  literature 
that  still  lives,  because  none  has  lived  so  long.  It  holds 
a  sort  of  primacy  in  the  aristocracy  of  natural  selection. 

Read  it,  moreover,  and  you  shall  find  another  proof  of 
vitality  in  it,  more  significant  still.  You  shall  recognize 
its  thoughts,  and  even  its  fancies,  as  your  long-time 
familiars, — shall  recognize  them  as  the  thoughts  that 
have  begotten  a  vast  deal  of  your  own  literature.  We 
read  the  classics  and  exclaim  in  our  vanity:  "How 
modern!  it  might  have  been  written  yesterday."  Would 
it  not  be  more  true,  as  well  as  more  instructive,  to  ex- 
claim concerning  our  own  ideas:  "How  ancient!  they 
have  been  true  these  thousand  years  "  ?  It  is  the  gene- 
ral air  of  the  world  a  man  gets  when  he  reads  the  classics, 
the  thinking  which  depends  upon  no  time,  but  only  upon 
human  nature,  which  seems  full  of  the  voices  of  the 
human  spirit,  quick  with  the  power  which  moves  ever 
upon  the  face  of  affairs.  "  What  Plato  has  thought,  he 
may  think ;  what  a  saint  has  felt,  he  may  feel ;  what  at 
any  time  has  befallen  any  man,  he  can  understand." 
There  is  the  spirit  of  a  race  in  Greek  literature  ;  the  spirit 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  125 

of  quite  another  people  in  the  books  of  Virgil  and  Horace 
and  Tacitus  ;  but  in  all  a  mirror  of  the  world,  the  old 
passion  of  the  soul,  the  old  hope  that  keeps  so  new,  the 
informing  memory,  the  persistent  forecast. 

It  has  always  seemed  to  me  an  odd  thing,  and  a  thing 
against  nature  that  the  literary  man,  the  man  whose  citi- 
zenship and  freedom  are  of  the  world  of  thought,  should 
ever  have  been  deemed  an  unsafe  man  in  affairs  ;  and 
yet  I  suppose  there  is  not  always  injustice  in  the  judg- 
ment. It  is  a  perilously  pleasant  and  beguiling  comrade- 
ship, the  company  of  authors.  Not  many  men,  when 
once  they  are  deep  in  it,  will  leave  its  engaging  talk  of 
things  gone  by  to  find  their  practical  duties  in  the  present. 
But  you  are  not  making  an  undergraduate  a  man  of  let- 
ters when  you  keep  him  four  short  years,  at  odd,  or  even 
at  stated,  hours  in  the  company  of  authors.  You  shall 
have  done  much  if  you  make  him  feel  free  among  them. 

This  argument  for  enlightenment  holds  scarcely  less 
good,  of  course,  in  behalf  of  the  study  of  modern  litera- 
ture, and  especially  the  literature  of  your  own  race  and 
country.  You  should  not  belittle  culture  by  esteeming 
it  a  thing  of  ornament,  an  accomplishment  rather  than  a 
power.  A  cultured  mind  is  a  mind  quit  of  its  awkward- 
ness, eased  of  all  impediment  and  illusion,  made  quick 
and  athletic  in  the  acceptable  exercise  of  power.  It  is  a 
mind  at  once  informed  and  just, —  a  mind  habituated  to 
choose  its  courses  with  knowledge,  and  filled  with  a  full 
assurance,  like  one  who  knows  the  world  and  can  live  in 
it  without  either  unreasonable  hope  or  unwarranted  fear. 
It  cannot  complain,  it  cannot  trifle,  it  cannot  despair. 
Leave  pessimism  to  the  uncultured,  who  do  not  know 
reasonable  hope ;  leave  fantastic  hopes  to  the  uncul- 
tured, who  do  not  know  the  reasonableness  of  failure. 
Show  that  your  mind  has  lived  in  the  world  ere  now ; 


126  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

has  taken  counsel  with  the  elder  dead  who  still  live,  as 
well  as  with  the  ephemeral  living  who  cannot  pass  their 
graves.      Help  men,  but  do  not  delude  them. 

I  believe,  of  course,  that  there  is  another  way  of  pre- 
paring young  men  to  be  wise.  I  need  not  tell  you  that 
I  believe  in  full,  explicit  instruction  in  history  and  in 
politics,  in  the  experiences  of  peoples  and  the  fortunes 
of  governments,  in  the  whole  story  of  what  men  have 
attempted  and  what  they  have  accomplished  through  all 
the  changes  both  of  form  and  purpose  in  their  organiza- 
tion of  their  common  life.  Many  minds  will  receive  and 
heed  this  systematic  instruction  which  have  no  ears  for 
the  voice  that  is  in  the  printed  page  of  literature.  But, 
just  as  it  is  one  thing  to  sit  here  in  republican  America 
and  hear  a  credible  professor  tell  of  the  soil  of  allegiance 
in  which  the  British  monarchy  grows,  and  quite  another 
to  live  where  Victoria  is  queen  and  hear  common  men 
bless  her  with  full  confession  of  loyalty,  so  it  is  one  thing 
to  hear  of  systems  of  government  in  histories  and  treat- 
ises and  quite  another  to  feel  them  in  the  pulses  of  the 
poets  and  prose  writers  who  have  lived  under  them. 

It  used  to  be  taken  for  granted, — did  it  not? — that 
colleges  would  be  found  always  on  the  conservative  side 
in  politics  (except  on  the  question  of  free  trade)  ;  but  in 
this  latter  day  a  great  deal  has  taken  place  which  goes 
far  towards  discrediting  the  presumption.  The  college 
in  our  day  lies  very  near  indeed  to  the  affairs  of  the 
world.  It  is  a  place  of  the  latest  experiments ;  its  lab- 
oratories are  brisk  with  the  spirit  of  discovery ;  its  lec- 
ture rooms  resound  with  the  discussion  of  new  theories 
of  life  and  novel  programmes  of  reform.  There  is  no  radi- 
cal like  your  learned  radical,  bred  in  the  schools;  and 
thoughts  of  revolution  have  in  our  time  been  harbored 
in  universities  as  naturally  as  they  were  once  nourished 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  127 

among  the  Encyclopedists.     It  is  the  scientific  spirit  of 
the  age  that  has  wrought  the  change. 

I  stand  with  my  hat  off  at  very  mention  of  the  great 
men  who  have  made  our  age  an  age  of  knowledge. 
No  man  more  heartily  admires,  more  gladly  welcomes, 
more  approvingly  reckons  the  gain  and  the  enlighten- 
ment that  have  come  to  the  world  through  the  extraor- 
dinary advances  in  physical  science  which  this  great  age 
has  witnessed.  He  would  be  a  barbarian  and  a  lover 
of  darkness  who  should  grudge  that  great  study  any 
part  of  its  triumph.  But  I  am  a  student  of  society  and 
should  deem  myself  unworthy  of  the  comradeship  of 
great  men  of  science  should  I  not  speak  the  plain  truth 
with  regard  to  what  I  see  happening  under  my  own 
eyes.  I  have  no  laboratory  but  the  world  of  books 
and  men  in  which  I  live  ;  but  I  am  much  mistaken  if 
the  scientific  spirit  of  the  age  is  not  doing  us  a  great 
disservice,  working  in  us  a  certain  great  degeneracy. 
Science  has  bred  in  us  a  spirit  of  experiment  and  a 
contempt  for  the  past.  It  has  made  us  credulous  of 
quick  improvement,  hopeful  of  discovering  panaceas, 
confident  of  success  in  every  new  thing. 

I  wish  to  be  as  explicit  as  carefully  chosen  words  will 
enable  me  to  be  upon  a  matter  so  critical,  so  radical  as 
this.  I  have  no  indictment  against  what  science  has 
done :  I  have  only  a  warning  to  utter  against  the  at- 
mosphere which  has  stolen  from  laboratories  into  lecture 
rooms  and  into  the  general  air  of  the  world  at  large. 
Science, —  our  science, —  is  new.  It  is  a  child  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  It  has  transformed  the  world  and 
owes  little  debt  of  obligation  to  any  past  age.  It  has 
driven  mystery  out  of  the  Universe ;  it  has  made  mal- 
leable stuff  of  the  hard  world,  and  laid  it  out  in  its  ele- 
ments upon   the  table  of  every  class    room.     Its   own 


128  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

masters  have  known  its  limitations :  they  have  stopped 
short  at  the  confines  of  the  physical  universe ;  they 
they  have  declined  to  reckon  with  spirit  or  with  the 
stuffs  of  the  mind,  have  eschewed  sense  and  confined 
themselves  to  sensation.  But  their  work  has  been  so 
stupendous  that  all  other  men  of  all  other  studies  have 
been  set  staring  at  their  methods,  imitating  their  ways 
of  thought,  ogling  their  results.  We  look  in  our  study 
of  the  classics  nowadays  more  at  the  phenomena  of 
language  than  at  the  movement  of  spirit;  we  suppose 
the  world  which  is  invisible  to  be  unreal ;  we  doubt  the 
efficacy  of  feeling  and  exaggerate  the  efficacy  of  know- 
ledge; we  speak  of  society  as  an  organism  and  believe 
that  we  can  contrive  for  it  a  new  environment  which 
will  change  the  very  nature  of  its  constituent  parts ; 
worst  of  all,  we  believe  in  the  present  and  in  the  future 
more  than  in  the  past,  and  deem  the  newest  theory  of 
society  the  likeliest.  This  is  the  disservice  scientific 
study  has  done  us :  it  has  given  us  agnosticism  in  the 
realm  of  philosophy,  scientific  anarchism  in  the  field  of 
politics.  It  has  made  the  legislator  confident  that  he 
can  create  and  the  philosopher  sure  that  God  cannot. 
Past  experience  is  discredited,  and  the  laws  of  matter 
are  supposed  to  apply  to  spirit  and  to  the  make-up  of 
society. 

Let  me  say  once  more,  this  is  not  the  fault  of  the  sci- 
entist. He  has  done  his  work  with  an  intelligence  and 
success  which  cannot  be  too  much  admired.  It  is  the 
work  of  the  noxious,  intoxicating  gas  which  has  some- 
how got  into  the  lungs  of  the  rest  of  us  from  out  the 
crevices  of  his  workshop, —  a  gas,  it  would  seem,  which 
forms  only  in  the  outer  air,  and  where  men  do  not  know 
the  right  use  of  their  lungs.  I  should  tremble  to  see 
social    reform    led    by   men   who    have    breathed    it ;     I 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  129 

should  fear  nothing  better  than  utter  destruction  from 
a  revolution  conceived  and  led  in  the  scientific  spirit. 
Science  has  not  changed  the  laws  of  social  growth 
or  betterment.  Science  has  not  changed  the  nature 
of  society,  has  not  made  history  a  whit  easier  to  un- 
derstand, human  nature  a  whit  easier  to  reform.  It 
has  won  for  us  a  great  liberty  in  the  physical  world,  a 
liberty  from  superstitious  fear  and  from  disease,  a  free- 
dom to  use  nature  as  a  familiar  servant ;  but  it  has  not 
freed  us  from  ourselves.  It  has  not  purged  us  of  pas- 
sion or  disposed  us  to  virtue.  It  has  not  made  us  less 
covetous  or  less  ambitious  or  less  self-indulgent.  On 
the  contrary,  it  may  be  suspected  of  having  enhanced 
our  passions,  by  making  wealth  so  quick  to  come,  so 
fickle  to  stay.  It  has  wrought  such  instant,  incredible 
improvement  in  all  the  physical  setting  of  our  life,  that 
we  have  grown  the  more  impatient  of  the  unreformed 
condition  of  the  part  it  has  not  touched  or  bettered,  and 
we  want  to  get  at  our  spirits  and  reconstruct  them  in  like 
radical  fashion  by  like  processes  of  experiment.  We  have 
broken  with  the  past  and  have  come  into  a  new  world. 

Do  you  wonder,  then,  that  I  ask  for  the  old  drill,  the 
old  memory  of  times  gone  by,  the  old  schooling  in  pre- 
cedent and  tradition,  the  old  keeping  of  faith  with  the 
past,  as  a  preparation  for  leadership  in  days  of  social 
change  ?  We  have  not  given  science  too  big  a  place  in 
our  education  ;  but  we  have  made  a  perilous  mistake  in 
giving  it  too  great  a  preponderance  in  method  in  every 
other  branch  of  study.  We  must  make  the  humanities 
human  again  ;  we  must  recall  what  manner  of  men  we 
are ;  must  turn  back  once  more  to  the  region  of  practical 
ideals. 

Of  course,  when  all  is  said,  it  is  not  learning  but  the 
spirit  of  service  that  will  give  a  college  place  in  the  public 


130  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

annals  of  the  nation.  It  is  indispensable,  it  seems  to  me, 
if  it  is  to  do  its  right  service,  that  the  air  of  affairs  should 
be  admitted  to  all  its  class  rooms.  I  do  not  mean  the 
air  of  party  politics,  but  the  air  of  the  world's  trans- 
actions, the  consciousness  of  the  solidarity  of  the  race,  the 
sense  of  the  duty  of  man  toward  man,  of  the  presence 
of  men  in  every  problem,  of  the  significance  of  truth  for 
guidance  as  well  as  for  knowledge,  of  the  potency  of 
ideas,  of  the  promise  and  the  hope  that  shine  in  the  face 
of  all  knowledge.  There  is  laid  upon  us  the  compulsion 
of  the  national  life.  We  dare  not  keep  aloof  and  closet 
ourselves  while  a  nation  comes  to  its  maturity.  The 
days  of  glad  expansion  are  gone ;  our  life  grows  tense 
and  difficult;  our  resource  for  the  future  lies  in  careful 
thought,  providence,  and  a  wise  economy  ;  and  the  school 
must  be  of  the  nation. 

I  have  had  sight  of  the  perfect  place  of  learning  in  my 
thought :  a  free  place,  and  a  various,  where  no  man  could 
be  and  not  know  with  how  great  a  destiny  knowledge 
had  come  into  the  world, —  itself  a  little  world:  but  not 
perplexed  ;  living  with  a  singleness  of  aim  not  known 
without ;  the  home  of  sagacious  men,  hard-headed  and 
with  a  will  to  know,  debaters  of  the  world's  questions 
every  day  and  used  to  the  rough  ways  of  democracy; 
and  yet  a  place  removed, —  calm  Science  seated  there, 
recluse,  ascetic,  like  a  nun,  not  knowing  that  the  world 
passes,  not  caring,  if  the  truth  but  come  in  answer  to  her 
prayer ;  and  Literature,  walking  within  her  open  doors, 
in  quiet  chambers,  with  men  of  olden  times,  storied  walls 
about  her,  and  calm  voices  infinitely  sweet ;  here  "  magic 
casements,  opening  on  the  foam  of  perilous  seas,  in  faery 
lands  forlorn,"  to  which  you  may  withdraw  and  use  your 
youth  for  pleasure ;  there  windows  open  straight  upon 
the  street,  where  many  stand  and  talk,  intent  upon  the 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  131 

world  of  men  and  business.  A  place  where  ideals  are 
kept  in  heart,  in  an  air  they  can  breathe ;  but  no  fool's 
paradise.  A  place  where  to  learn  the  truth  about  the 
past  and  hold  debate  about  the  affairs  of  the  present, 
with  knowledge  and  without  passion  :  like  the  world  in 
having  all  men's  life  at  heart,  a  place  for  men  and  all 
that  concerns  them ;  but  unlike  the  world  in  its  self-pos- 
session, its  thorough  way  of  talk,  its  care  to  know  more 
than  the  moment  brings  to  light ;  slow  to  take  excite- 
ment ;  its  air  pure  and  wholesome  with  a  breath  of  faith  ; 
every  eye  within  it  bright  in  the  clear  day  and  quick  to 
look  toward  heaven  for  the  confirmation  of  its  hope. 
Who  shall  show  us  the  way  to  this  place  ? 

At  half-past  two  in  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  the  un- 
dergraduate football  teams  of  Princeton  and  the  University 
of  Virginia  were  to  play  a  match  game  on  the  University 
Athletic  Field.  The  seating  facilities  of  the  grounds  had 
been  increased  by  building  new  stands.  About  six  thousand 
persons  were  present,  among  them  many  of  the  delegates. 
To  the  European  visitors  an  opportunity  was  thus  afforded 
of  seeing  one  of  the  sights  most  characteristic  of  college  life 
in  America.  They  were  accompanied  to  the  field  by  their 
hosts,  who  did  their  best  to  explain  the  technicalities  of  the 
game.  Whether  these  were  all  made  plain  or  not  made 
possibly  only  a  small  difference,  for  the  contest  happened 
to  be  full  of  telling  features,  and  the  scene  before  and  during 
play  was  most  picturesque.  The  weather  had  remained  per- 
fect. The  orange  and  black  banners  of  Princeton  flapped 
languidly  beside  the  orange  and  blue  of  Virginia.  So  clear 
was  the  air  that  one  could  distinguish  faces  across  the  field, 
and  it  seemed  as  if  the  Sesquicentennial  multitude  had  be- 
come a  single  family.  It  was  by  no  means  an  ordinary 
football  crowd.     The  average  age  of  the   spectators  was 


132  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

probably  twenty  years  older  than  usual.  Many  older  Prince- 
ton alumni  doubtless  were  seeing  a  football  game  for  the 
first  time,  but  the  graybeards  were  just  as  enthusiastic  as 
the  younger  men.  Fortunately  the  playing  of  the  Princeton 
team,  by  its  strength,  swiftness  and  skill,  justified  this  in- 
terest, and  was  in  keeping  with  the  best  athletic  reputation 
of  the  college.  The  Virginia  team  played  a  manful  game 
and  were  roundly  applauded  for  their  many  excellent  points. 
When  time  was  called  the  score  stood  48  to  o  in  favor  of 
Princeton. 

An  interesting  occurrence,  not  on  the  official  programme, 
but  appropriate  to  the  Sesquicentennial  celebration,  was  the 
meeting  of  the  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution  in  the 
State  of  New  Jersey,  which  was  held  on  Wednesday  after- 
noon. This  society,  which  contains  a  large  number  of 
Princeton  graduates  and  residents  of  Princeton  and  neigh- 
boring towns,  had  caused  to  be  placed  on  the  right-hand 
side  of  the  north  entrance  to  Nassau  Hall  a  bronze  memo- 
rial tablet,  which  was  unveiled  upon  this  occasion. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 


133 


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Colonel  S.  Meredith  Dickinson,  of  Trenton,  president  of 
the  society,  made  a  short  speech  presenting  the  tablet  to  the 
trustees.  Mr.  Charles  E.  Green,  in  their  behalf,  thanked 
the  generous  donors  and  accepted  the  gift,  mentioning  the 
fact  that  this  was  the  last  official  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.     The  Honorable 


134  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

John  L.  Cadwalader,  of  the  class  of  1856,  then  made  an 
address,  of  which  the  main  theme  was  Princeton's  share  in 
the  Revolution  and  the  appropriateness  of  the  memorial. 

The  undergraduates  and  younger  alumni  had  looked  for- 
ward with  more  interest  perhaps  to  the  torchlight  procession 
than  to  any  other  feature  of  the  celebration.  And  it  had 
been  one  of  the  most  difficult  things  to  arrange  for,  because 
it  required  the  cooperation  of  so  many  agencies  —  good 
weather,  the  presence  and  enthusiasm  of  a  large  number 
of  men,  and  not  least  an  intelligent  arrangement  of  forces. 
Nearly  a  year  ahead  of  time  it  was  suggested  to  the  stu- 
dents that  they  should  organize  a  company  which  should 
reproduce  in  the  procession  the  famous  Mercer  Blues  of 
Revolutionary  Princeton.  The  Mercer  Blues  were  accord- 
ingly formed  and  carefully  trained.  By  the  time  of  the 
celebration  their  number  was  reduced  to  about  one  hun- 
dred, but  these  men  were  a  handsome  marching  body. 
They  wore  reproductions  of  the  blue-and-buff  uniforms  of 
the  Princeton  company  of  Continental  soldiers  in  the  Revo- 
lution. It  would  be  easy  enough  to  get  the  remaining  un- 
dergraduates into  line,  under  their  several  class  leaders, 
when  the  time  came.  But  no  one  could  tell  how  many 
graduates  would  be  in  Princeton  on  October  21,  nor  how 
general  would  be  their  preparations  for  making  an  effective 
display.  In  order  to  unify  and  stimulate  their  efforts,  the 
following  circular  was  sent  out: 

STATEMENT     OF    THE    ARRANGEMENTS     FOR    THE 

TORCHLIGHT    PROCESSION    ON  WEDNESDAY 

EVENING,  OCTOBER  21,  1896. 

Princeton,  September  22,  1896. 
This  statement  is  sent  to  the  various  class  Secretaries  at  the  re- 
quest of  a  meeting  of  class  Secretaries  and  Presidents  held  in  Prince- 


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PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  137 

On  Monday,  October  19,  the  following  final  instructions 
were  issued : 


TORCHLIGHT   PROCESSION, 
WEDNESDAY    EVENING,  OCTOBER    21,   1896. 

General  Insfricctious. 

1.  Each  class  will  assemble  at  the  place  marked  for  it  on  the 
enclosed  diagram  of  the  Campus  promptly  at  8  p.  m.  and  prepare  for 
the  parade.     See  Diagram  No.  i. 

2.  All  floats  upon  platform  wagons,  whether  drawn  by  horses  or 
men,  will  form  in  line  on  the  west  side  of  University  Place,  in  the 
order  of  the  classes  they  represent,  at  8  p.  m.  The  head  of  this 
line  will  not  advance  beyond  a  point  opposite  the  Halsted  Observa- 
tory until  the  class  which  they  are  to  accompany  reaches  the  front 
of  Halsted  Observatory,  when  the  float,  or  floats,  will  pass  forward 
and  take  their  places  in  the  line  under  the  instruction  of  the  aide 
for  the  class.  Each  class  aide  must  appoint  an  assistant  to  accom- 
pany every  float  to  see  that  it  is  moved  forward  promptly  as  his  line 
appears.  The  remaining  floats  will  move  forward  at  the  same  time 
to  the  point  indicated  above,  where  they  will  halt  until  ordered  to 
move  forward  by  the  aides.  Should  any  of  the  floats  be  disabled 
along  the  line  of  march  it  must  be  immediately  taken  to  one  side  and 
the  ranks  closed  up. 

3.  The  central  portion  of  the  Campus,  about  the  Big  Cannon, 
must  be  kept  clear  at  all  times.  Each  class  must  remain  at  its 
assigned  station  subject  to  the  orders  of  the  aide  in  charge.  Should 
the  designated  aide  not  appear,  one  should  immediately  be  chosen, 
and  he  must  at  once  report  to  the  marshal  for  instructions. 

4.  The  commanders  of  divisions  will  report  at  the  Big  Cannon 
at  8  p.  M.  in  undress  uniform. 

At  8. 1  o  p.  M.  the  College  bell  will  be  rung  and  the  aides  will  all  report 
to  their  respective  commanders  at  the  Big  Cannon  for  instructions. 


138  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

At  8. 20  P.  M.  the  "assembly"  will  be  blown  by  the  bugler.  All 
torches  and  transparencies  must  be  lit  by  this  time  and  the  lines 
formed  immediately  after  this  order,  in  columns  of  fours.  The  com- 
manders of  divisions  will  then  take  their  places  at  the  head  of  their 
respective  lines.  As  soon  as  each  class  is  formed  its  aide  will  report 
the  fact  to  his  commander. 

The  Marshal's  aides  will  then  visit  each  commander,  and  upon 
ascertaining  that  all  is  in  readiness,  will  return  to  the  Marshal  at 
the  Cannon. 

5.  The  column  will  move  promptly  at  8.30  p.  m.  There  will  be  no 
delay. 


Line  of  March. 

From  the  Big  Cannon  between  West  College  and  Reunion  Hall 
to  University  Place. 

Along  University  Place  to  Dickinson  Street. 

Along  Dickinson  Street  to  Alexander  Street. 

(Here  the  floats  will  leave  the  line  and  pass  along  Alexander 
Street  to  Mercer;  thence  to  the  westerly  Seminary  Gate.  They  will 
rejoin  their  classes  at  this  point  as  before  at  the  Halsted  Observ- 
atory.) 

Along  Alexander  Street  to  the  Seminary  Gate. 

Through  the  Seminary  Grounds  to  Mercer  Street. 

Along  Mercer  Street  to  Library  Place. 

Along  Library  Place  to  Stockton  Street. 

Along  Stockton  Street  to  Nassau  Street. 

(Should  time  permit  the  line  will  pass  down  Bayard  Avenue  as  far 
as  Mr.  Conover's  house,  and  counter-march  to  Nassau  Street.) 

Along  Nassau  Street  to  Chestnut  Street. 

Counter-march  to  Washington  Street. 

(At  this  point  the  floats  will  leave  the  line  and  proceed  to  a  point 
on  Nassau  Street  opposite  Nassau  Hall,  where  they  will  halt.) 

The  line  will  proceed  along  Washington  Street  to  McCosh  Walk. 

Along  McCosh  Walk  to  the  west  side  of  Clio  Hall. 

From  Clio  Hall  to  the  west  end  of  Nassau  Hall. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 


139 


In  front  of  Nassau  Hall  past  the  reviewing-stand  to  their  places  in 
the  front  Campus  as  assigned  by  the  aides,  and  as  indicated  on  the 
enclosed  diagram.     See  Diagram  No.  2. 


Officers  and  Order  of  the  Procession. 

The  71st  Regiment  Band. 
The  Mercer  Blues. 
The  Marshal  and  Aides. 
Delegation  from  Yale  University. 


First  Division  :  The  Undergraduates. 

Commander,  Mr.  H.  C.  Brokaw,  '97. 

Aides  :  '97,  Mr.  W.  H.  Andrus.     "99,  Mr.  J.  G.  Stevenson. 
'98,  Mr.  G.  Cochran.         '00,  Mr.  B.  Wheeler. 


Second  Division:    "The  Old  Guard,"  Classes  from  1823  to  1859. 


Commander 

Aides :  '38,  Rev.  W.  E.  Schenck. 
'39,  Col.  M.  R.  Hamilton. 
'40,  Dr.  H.  M.  Alexander. 
'41,  Prof  J.  T.  Duffield. 
'42,  Rev.  Dr.  E.  R.  Craven. 
'43,  Hon.  J.  P.  Stockton. 
'44,  Hon.  H.  S.  Little. 
'45,  Mr.  C.  M.  Davis. 
'46,  Hon.  B.  Van  Syckel. 
'47,  Mr.  A.  Martien. 
'48,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  C.  Cattell. 


Gen.  W.  S.  Stryker,  '58. 

49,  Dr.  J.  Paul. 

50,  Dr.  J.  B.  Piper. 

51,  Dr.  J.  H.  Wikoff. 

52,  Mr.  J.  C.  McDonald. 

53,  Mr.  I.  C.  Whitehead. 

54,  Rev.  L.  C.  Baker. 

55,  Mr.  H.  Y.  Evans. 

56,  Lt.-Col.A.A.WoodhuIl. 

57,  Mr.  S.  Bayard  Dod. 

58,  Hon.  W.  L.  Dayton. 

59,  Hon.  G.  W.  Ketcham. 


140  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

Third  Division:   Classes  from  i860  to  1870. 

Commander,  Maj.  J.  C.  Owens,  '68. 

Aides:  '60,  Mr.  E.  J.  D.  Cross.  '65,  Mr.  C.  F.  Richardson. 

'61,  Hon.  L.  H.Anderson.  '66,  Hon.  J.  K.  Cowen. 

'62,  Rev.  L.  W.  Mudge.  '67,  Mr.  F.  E.  Marsh. 

'63,  Mr.  S.  B.  Huey.  '68,  Mr.  C.  S.  Withington. 

'64,  Mr.  W.  Freeman.  '69,  Mr.  J.  W.  Aitken. 

Fourth  Division  :   Classes  from  1870  to  1880. 

Commander,  Col.  D.  G.  Walker,  '75. 

Aides:  '70,  Rev.  W.  H.  Miller.         '75,  Dr.  T.  W.  Harvey. 
'71,  Dr.  W.  McD.  Halsey.  '76,  Mr.  H.  L.  Harrison. 
'72,  Rev.  J.  W.  Hageman.   '']'],  Mr.  J.  A.  Campbell. 
'11^  Rev.  J.  H.  Dulles.  '78,  Prof  H.  S.  S.  Smith. 

'74,  Mr.  C.  D.  Thompson.    '79,  Maj.  J.  R.  Wright. 

Fifth  Division  :   Classes  from  1880  to  1890. 

Commander,  Capt.  F.  G.  Landon,  '81. 

Aides:  '80,  Prof  H.  B.  Fine.  '85,  Mr.  J.  B.  Miles. 

'81,  Rev.  R.  D.  Harlan.  '86,  Mr.  F.  Evans,  Jr. 

'82,  Mr.  E.  S.  Simons.  '87,  Mr.  L.  Stearns.       • 

'83,  Rev.  E.  H.  Rudd.  '88,  Pres.  W.  M.  Irvine. 

'84,  Mr.  A.  G.  Todd.  '89,  Rev.  L.  S.  Mudge. 

Sixth  Division:   Classes  from  1890  to  1896. 

Commander,  Capt.  P.  Vredenburgh,  '92. 

Aides:   '90,  Mr.  L.  D.  Speir.  '94,  Mr.  J.  M.  Thompson. 

'91,  Col.  G.  B.  Agnew.  '95,  Mr.  A.  C.  Imbrie. 

'92,  Mr.  W.  K.  Prentice.  '96,  Mr.  C.  B.  Bostwick. 
'93,  Mr.  J.  B.  Carter. 


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142  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

There  is  no  means  of  ascertaining  closely  how  many- 
Princeton  graduates  and  how  many  guests  and  visitors 
were  in  town  when  the  unclouded  sun  of  that  rare  October 
day  yielded  the  field  at  nightfall.  It  is  probable  that  about 
two  thousand  alumni  and  several  times  that  number  of  in- 
terested spectators  were  waiting  for  the  grand  spectacular 
event.  As  the  red  sun  dropped  behind  the  pines  of  Mor- 
ven,  the  Hunter's  Moon  rose  broad  and  yellow  in  the  east. 
But  other  luminaries  disputed  the  Princeton  campus,  for 
between  daylight  and  dark  a  thousand  orange-colored  lan- 
terns, and  as  many  more  of  red  and  blue  and  green,  began 
to  twinkle  among  the  trees  and  above  the  paths,  and  the 
front  of  Nassau  Hall,  that  old  pile  which  Princeton  men 
have  loved  through  so  many  generations,  burst  in  a  mo- 
ment into  a  mass  of  orange-tinted  electric  fire.  Lights 
crept  along  the  cornices  and  over  the  entrance  and  up 
the  white  tower.  They  outlined  the  famous  belfry,  where 
the  busy  work-day  monitor  hung  silent.  They  flashed 
forth  upon  the  gilded  pinnacle.  The  front  campus  would 
have  been  a  fitting  theatre  for  a  revel  of  fairies  or  some 
gorgeous  midsummer  night's  dream.  The  ground  in  front 
of  Nassau  Hall  was  as  bright  as  day,  and  so  were  the 
main  avenues,  but  on  either  hand  was  a  pleasant  mingling 
of  darkness  and  softest  light.  Along  the  elm  boughs 
glowed  in  graceful  festoons  lights  that  looked  like  new 
constellations  in  the  sky.  From  clumps  of  evergreen  shim- 
mered the  yellow  radiance,  as  if  of  enormous  fireflies. 
Every  room  in  Reunion  and  East  and  West  Colleges 
poured  forth  a  merry  shine,  and  no  part  of  the  campus, 
north  of  Potter's  woods,  was  left  to  moonlight  alone. 

In  the  quadrangle  around  the  Big  Cannon  there  soon 
began  a  scene  of  unwonted  stir,  although  few  places,  to  be 
sure,  have  witnessed  more  bonfires  and  nocturnal  celebra- 
tions than   that  well-trodden   square.     Flaring  torches,   in 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  143 

long,  tossing  lines,  appeared  from  all  directions.  Trom- 
bones and  cornets  reflected  the  light  grotesquely  increasing. 
Bugles  broke  forth  into  rallying  calls.  Gigantic  tigers  and 
other  quadrupeds  came  nodding  and  bobbing  over  the 
grass  from  one  and  another  place  of  preparation  and  con- 
cealment. Whole  classes  marched  into  their  positions, 
straight  from  their  banquets  and  reunions.  At  first  it 
looked  as  if  there  would  be  an  inextricable  tangle  of  bands 
and  floats  and  transparencies,  but  before  long  all  fell  into 
perfect  order,  and  the  several  grand  divisions,  cheering 
and  impatient  to  be  off,  stood  in  their  places,  and  every 
torch  was  burning.  At  twenty  minutes  past  eight  the 
bugles  blew,  and  there  was  a  hurrying  to  and  fro  of  aides 
and  captains.  At  half-past  eight  all  were  in  place  again,  and 
precisely  to  the  minute  the  long  procession  started.  The 
Mercer  Blues,  led  by  Professor  Libbey  in  Continental  uni- 
form, and  carrying  the  sword  worn  by  General  Hugh 
Mercer  at  the  battle  of  Princeton,  marched  with  the  solidity 
and  precision  of  veterans.  They  not  only  marched,  but 
performed  various  difficult  evolutions,  to  the  delight  of  the 
thousands  who  thronged  the  streets.  The  delegation  of 
Yale  Seniors,  who  followed  them  in  a  place  of  honor  before 
the  main  body  of  Princeton  undergraduates,  were  loudly 
cheered  as  they  wheeled  into  line.  The  Princeton  students, 
many  of  them  carefully  dressed  for  the  occasion  in  cos- 
tumes supposed  to  represent  the  easy  equality  and  contempt 
for  show  which  characterizes  them,  marched  in  classes,  and 
were  not  restrained  from  loud  and  constant  cheering  by 
any  feelings  of  modesty  or  timidity.  Even  had  they  rea- 
lized how  many  gray-bearded  men  were  immediately  fol- 
lowing them  in  the  tortuous  line,  it  is  possible  they  would 
not  have  subdued  their  ardor.  But  that  Old  Guard  was 
cheering  too!  The  earliest  class  represented  in  the  proces- 
sion was   1839,  which  had  two  men  in  line,  while  on  the 


144  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

campus  were  graduates  still  older, — as  far  back  as  1825. 
As  classes  of  later  date  appeared,  the  numbers  grew.  Men 
high  in  state  and  church,  veterans  of  the  Civil  War,  distin- 
guished ministers,  lawyers,  physicians,  business  men,  edi- 
tors, teachers,  some  in  carriages,  but  nearly  all  on  foot,  they 
awoke  the  wildest  storms  of  applause  in  every  street  of  the 
town,  marching  once  more  together  as  they  "used  to  do  'way 
back  in  Freshman  year."  With  two  exceptions,  every  one 
of  the  sixty-two  classes  from  1839  to  1900  was  represented 
in  the  line.  The  few  old  gentlemen  present  who  were 
graduated  still  further  back,  but  were  prevented  by  age  or 
infirmities  from  marching  in  the  line,  sat  on  the  reviewing- 
stand.  Men  had  come  from  distant  countries,  and  the 
remotest  parts  of  the  United  States,  to  participate  in  this 
parade.  After  this  division  of  heroes  came  the  classes  from 
i860  to  1896,  with  the  students  of  the  Princeton  Theologi- 
cal Seminary,  four  long  divisions.  From  the  class  of  1896 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men  were  present,  from  '95  one 
hundred  and  forty,  from  '94  one  hundred  and  twenty-five. 
The  class  of  '88  created  the  greatest  amusement.  The  men 
rode  imitation  horses,  which  were  managed  with  well- 
feigned  dexterity.  A  large  Trojan  Horse  was  dragged 
along  in  triumph  after  the  burlesque  equestrians.  Their 
progress  was  marked  by  a  continuous  roar  of  "inextinguish- 
able laughter."  The  class  of  '79  carried  several  large  and 
remarkable  transparencies,  among  them  one  representing 
the  bronze  relief  of  President  McCosh  in  the  chapel,  which 
was  their  gift.  Nearly  all  the  later  classes  bore  humorous 
transparencies,  illustrating  some  event  in  their  own  history 
when  in  college,  or  enforcing  some  political  opinion  or  some 
theory  of  managing  the  new  university.  The  class  of '81, 
dressed  in  the  costume  of  Colonial  soldiers,  was  preceded 
by  a  gorgeous  coach  in  which  one  of  their  number,  made  up 
to  represent  George  Washington,  reclined  at  his  ease.     The 


•"5tm;  ►>  ^.iitviai..:. 


Review  of  the  Torchlight  Procession  by  President  Clevehind 

at  Nassau  Hall. 


ii.ri    lii.fr^/i   3j, 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  147 

burned  themselves  out.  The  campus  was  soon  silent  and 
deserted.  It  was  over, — and  soon  only  the  moon,  now 
riding  high  aloft,  poured  her  soft  light  through  the  trees. 

Our  revels  now  are  ended :  these  our  actors, 
As  I  foretold  you,  were  all  spirits,  and 
Are  melted  into  air,  into  thin  air. 


The  Third  Day. 

On  Thursday,  October  22,  1896,  what  had  up  to  that  time 
been  a  purely  academic  festival  was  transformed  into  a  great 
national  event.  The  Princeton  sesquicentennial  celebration 
had  from  the  first  been  more  than  merely  local :  it  had  been 
given  unusual  dignity  and  value  by  the  presence  and  coop- 
eration of  a  more  distinguished  company  of  eminent  men  of 
learning  than  was  ever  before  assembled  in  this  country. 
Philosophy,  literature,  science,  and  art  were  worthily  repre- 
sented and  duly  honored.  But  it  was  remarked  that  the 
trend  of  the  proceedings  was  towards  the  expression  of  po- 
litical ideas.  It  was  manifest  that  what  Princeton  prided 
herself  on  were  her  statesmen,  the  connection  between  her 
lecture-rooms  and  the  council-chambers  of  the  nation,  her 
character  for  sober,  just,  and  progressive  political  thought. 
The  men  who  had  gathered  to  her  revels  came  almost  reluc- 
tant to  leave  for  three  whole  days  of  serenity  and  peace  the 
battle-field  of  political  strife,  where  so  many  of  them  were 
contending  for  all  that  was  reasonable,  peaceful,  and  just. 
And  of  a  sudden  it  turned  out  that  Princeton  became  on  the 
last  of  these  three  days  the  storm-centre  of  the  political 
atmosphere,  the  spot  upon  which  the  eyes  of  the  whole 
country  were  turned. 

A  slight  touch  of  frost  was  in  the  air  when  morning 
dawned.     The  dreamy  haze  of  Indian  summer  had  rolled 


148  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

southward,  and  the  sun  shone  with  a  brightness  prophetic  of 
winter.  Leaves  were  falhng  in  showers  and  eddying  along 
the  ground.  The  sky  was  cloudless.  Every  footfall  rang 
sharply  on  the  pavement;  every  hood  of  orange,  scarlet,  blue, 
and  purple  stood  out  bright  and  handsome  in  the  crystalline 
air.  Once  more  the  great  Princeton  family  and  its  guests 
were  astir.  Princeton  University  was  to  be  born  this  day. 
A  home  in  the  world  of  learning  was  to  be  newly  conse- 
crated. The  amount  of  the  sesquicentennial  fund  was  to  be 
announced.  The  President  of  the  United  States  was  to 
make  an  address,  and  no  one  doubted  that  it  would  be,  in 
some  sense,  his  valedictory  speech  to  the  American  people. 
The  pageant  of  conferring  the  degrees  was  to  be  enacted. 

The  noble  and  beautiful  Alexander  Hall  proved  splendidly 
adequate  as  the  theatre  of  these  events.  It  was  completely 
packed,  except  in  the  orchestra  and  on  the  stage,  early  in 
the  morning,  while  throngs  of  people  strove  in  vain  to 
enter.  The  crowd  filled  the  aisles  and  reached  beyond  the 
doors,  and  men  in  the  gallery  seemed  to  stand  on  one 
another's  shoulders.  Crowds  of  others  lined  the  path  to  the 
chapel,  down  which,  at  eleven  o'clock,  marched  the  City 
Troop  of  Philadelphia,  followed  two  and  two  by  the  academic 
procession.  At  its  head  walked  President  Patton,  with 
President  Cleveland  on  his  right,  the  latter  being  perhaps 
the  only  man  who  did  not  wear  cap  or  gown  or  hood.  In 
front  of  Alexander  Hall  the  City  Troop  stood  like  a  line  of 
statues,  the  perfection  of  military  form.  They  presented 
arms  as  the  Chief  Magistrate  passed.  Mrs.  Cleveland,  with 
her  hostess,  Mrs.  Patton,  had  already  entered  the  hall,  and 
was  seated  in  the  circle  which  surrounds  the  orchestra. 

The  procession  descended  the  main  aisle,  while  the  audi- 
ence rose  and  greeted  it  with  tumultuous  applause  and 
continuous  and  irrepressible  cheering.  The  distinguished 
scholars  who  were  to  receive  degrees  took  seats  upon  the 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  149 

platform,  President  Patton  in  the  centre  under  the  dais,  with 
President  Cleveland  on  his  right  and  Governor  Griggs  on 
his  left.  In  the  small  semicircle  were  also  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  of  Brooklyn ;  the  Right  Rev.  Henry 
Yates  Satterlee,  Bishop  of  Washington ;  Mr.  Charles  E. 
Green;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Elijah  R.  Craven,  of  Philadelphia, 
Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Trustees;  and  near  by  were  Dean 
Murray  and  Professors  Shields,  Young,  and  Sloane,  who 
were  to  present  the  recipients  of  the  degrees,  and  Professor 
Libbey,  the  marshal.  The  rest  of  the  academic  procession 
filled  the  orchestra. 

When  the  applause  had  subsided  and  the  music  ceased. 
Dr.  Cuyler  arose  and  offered  the  following  prayer : 

"Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty,  the  heavens 
are  full  of  Thy  praise.  From  Thee  cometh  down  every 
good  and  perfect  gift.  We  thank  Thee  that  Thy  ser- 
vants have  planted  the  root  divine  which  has  spread  like 
a  goodly  cedar,  and  has  yielded  nurture  to  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  all  over  the  earth.  We  thank  Thee 
that  it  has  guarded  the  cradle  of  our  youthful  republic, 
and  that  here  Thy  name  has  been  honored  and  Thy 
word  has  been  taught.  And  now.  Most  Holy  One,  we 
invoke  thy  richest  blessings  on  our  mother,  who  nur- 
tured us  so  tenderly  on  her  bosom.  We  invoke  Thee 
to  bless  our  country  on  whose  altar  rest  the  ashes  of  her 
fathers  and  the  hopes  of  her  children.  Bless  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  may  he  continue  to  honor 
the  high  trust  committed  to  his  care  to  the  very  last  hour 
of  his  administration.  Bless  also  the  Governor  of  this 
Commonwealth,  and  all  who  rule  in  high  authority. 
Bless  those  who  come  to  us  from  the  various  colleges 
and  universities  of  the  world,  bringing  congratulations 
from  sister  institutions.     We  pray  that  every  university 


150  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

may  be  a  fountainhead  of  truth,  and  that  all  their  fruits 
may  be  laid  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  on  this  day 
so  full  of  memories  and  so  radiant  with  hopes  we  join  all 
our  voices  in  crowning  Him  Lord  of  all.  Hear  us  in 
these  our  petitions  as  we  gather,  weak,  poor  and  sinful, 
and  as  we  join  in  the  words  our  Saviour  taught  us  to 
say."  The  entire  assembly  then  joined  in  the  Lord's 
Prayer. 

Then,  amid  a  hush  of  expectancy,  President  Patton  slowly 
arose,  and  with  much  dignity  and  grace  of  manner  made 
the  announcement  of  the  university  title  and  endowments. 
Every  word  fell  clear  and  was  heard  in  the  remotest  corners 
of  that  densely  crowded  hall.  One  common  tide  of  emotion 
swelled  and  rose  in  the  hearts  of  the  alumni  of  the  old  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey  while  his  utterance  grew  louder  and  his 
voice  was  thrilled  with  deeper  feeling  as  he  approached 
the  climax,  when,  on  a  sudden,  with  one  magical  phrase  he 
called  to  the  floods  and  they  obeyed.  Men  who  loved 
Princeton  as  the  home  of  their  hearts,  as  the  field  of  their 
ideals  and  their  hopes,  trembled  with  enthusiasm  as  the 
moment  approached — the  moment  of  moments;  and  when 
it  came,  they  leaped  to  their  feet,  spontaneously,  and  a  great 
shout  went  up  to  heaven. 

President  Patton  said,  bowing  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  to  the  Governor  of  New  Jersey  and  to  the 
audience : 

We  have  waited  long  for  this  hour.  To  us  it  is  the 
hour  of  gladness,  but  we  cannot  conceal  from  ourselves 
the  fact  that  it  is  an  hour  in  which  we  are  conscious  of 
serious  responsibilities  as  well.  And  so,  reverently  and 
in  the  fear  of  God,  we  enter  this  house  and  begin  the 
exercises  of  the   day    by    invoking   the   favor    of  God 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  151 

Almighty.  We  have  planned  for  an  appropriate  rec- 
ognition of  the  fact  that  on  this  day  there  will  occur 
the  one-hundred-and-fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  signing 
of  the  charter  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

We  desired  to  mark  the  day  by  three  appropriate  cir- 
cumstances. In  the  first  place,  it  was  our  desire  that 
the  occasion  should  be  one  in  which  there  should  be  a 
fitting  celebration  of  the  event  to  which  I  have  just 
referred,  and  we  accordingly  planned,  with  such  fore- 
thought and  wisdom  as  we  had,  for  a  suitable  academic 
festival.  I  am  speaking  the  feelings  of  my  colleagues 
on  the  board  of  trustees  and  in  the  faculty  when  I  say 
that  we  have  been  exceedingly  gratified  by  the  success 
that  has  thus  far  attended  our  efforts;  and  we  do  not 
forget  that  the  degree  of  success  that  we  have  had  is  due 
in  the  main  to  the  kind,  cordial  cooperation  of  the  uni- 
versities of  the  world,  to  those  who  come  to  us  from  the 
universities  of  this  land,  and  especially  to  those  who,  at 
great  sacrifice  of  time  and  pressing  engagements,  have 
crossed  the  sea  and  come  to  us  from  other  lands.  We 
feel  ourselves  under  a  great  debt  of  obligation,  and  I 
desire  at  this  moment  to  express  to  them  in  the  heartiest 
possible  way  the  thanks  of  the  trustees  and  faculty  for 
their  kind  presence  among  us,  and  friendly  sympathy 
shown  us,  and  the  deep  interest  they  have  ever  mani- 
fested in  our  institution. 

We  hope  that  they  wall  carry  away  pleasant  memories 
of  Princeton,  but  we  assure  you  that,  on  our  part,  their 
presence  has  been  an  inspiration  to  us,  and  that  the  cause 
of  the  higher  education  has  taken  a  long  step  in  advance 
as  the  result  of  their  kindly  presence.  We  wish  to  as- 
sure them  that  their  names  will  linger  with  us  always 
as  pleasant  memories ;  that  we  feel  ourselves  nearer  to 
them  than  we  ever  did  before ;  that  there  is  a  commu- 


152  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

nity  of  interest  between  us  and  the  universities  of  the 
world  that  we  never  reahzed  before ;  and  that  this 
community  of  university  interest  is,  let  us  hope,  but 
a  symbol  of  that  underlying,  ever-growing  interna- 
tional community  that  shall  make  for  peace,  concord 
and  good-will  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

It  was  not  unnatural  that  the  trustees  and  the  faculty 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  should  think  that  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  era  in  her  history  furnished  us  with  an 
opportunity  that  we  could  not  well  let  go  by  for  an  effort 
in  the  direction  of  an  increase  in  the  endowments  of  the 
institution  in  whose  interests  we  meet  this  morning ;  and  it 
is  my  pleasure  to  say  that,  notwithstanding  the  stress  of 
difficult  financial  circumstances  throughout  the  country, 
our  success  in  this  direction  has  been  exceedingly  gratify- 
ing, and  has  exceeded  the  most  sanguine  expectations,  at 
least  of  some  of  us,  when  this  movement  was  inaugurated. 

There  has  been  placed  in  my  hands  a  statement  which 
I  shall  read:  In  order  to  strengthen  and  extend  the 
various  departments  of  instruction  and  research,  a  com- 
mittee on  endowment  was  appointed  by  the  trustees,  and 
organized  in  January,  1895.  This  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  secure  the  necessary  means  for  strengthening 
and  extending  the  various  departments  of  instruction 
and  research,  both  undergraduate  and  graduate.  The 
especial  objects  for  which  the  increase  of  endowment 
was  sought  were  university  fellowships  and  professor- 
ships, an  increase  in  the  salaries  of  the  faculty,  an 
increase  in  the  general  fund,  and  a  new  university  library. 

Many  subscriptions  have  been  received.  Without 
specifying  in  detail  what  must  be  reserved  for  a  later 
and  fuller  statement,  it  is  proper  to  say  at  this  time  that 
several  fellowships  have  been  secured  and  a  McCormick 
professorship  has  been  founded ;  a  Blair  Hall  has  been 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  153 

given,  its  revenues  being  available  for  the  support  of 
professors ;  and  a  considerable,  though  not  a  complete, 
endowment  of  the  McCosh  Professorship  of  Philosophy 
has  been  obtained.  A  gift  of  $250,000  has  been  received 
for  purposes  not  yet  ready  to  be  announced  publicly, 
and  a  gift  of  $600,000  has  been  received  for  a  univer- 
sity library.  The  guarantee  of  subscriptions  reported 
up  to  October  21  is  $1,353,291. 

We  have  not  abandoned  the  prosecution  of  this  work, 
and  some  unfinished  business  remains  in  connection  with 
the  duties  of  the  Endowment  Committee.  At  a  later 
date  we  hope  to  be  able  to  announce  the  complete 
endowment  of  the  McCosh  professorship. 

We  are  anxious  to  secure  a  complete  endowment  for  a 
graduate  college,  in  order  that  the  best  facilities  may  be 
furnished  for  the  prosecution  of  graduate  work;  and  it  is 
one  of  the  still  unrealized  dreams  of  my  early  adminis- 
tration that  the  time  may  yet  come  when  there  shall  be  in 
this  University  such  a  school  of  historical  and  philosoph- 
ical jurisprudence  and  political  science  as  shall  be  worthy 
of  the  historic  foundations  on  which  it  will  be  planted, 
and  be  the  logical  outcome  of  our  historic  beginning. 

There  was  another  circumstance  by  which  we  thought 
it  would  be  wise  to  mark  the  significance  of  this  day. 
Thanks  to  the  liberal  provisions  of  the  charter  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  this  institution  from  its  begin- 
ning has  been  fully  empowered  to  do  university  work  in 
all  its  spheres,  and  we  have  had  occasion  to  make  no 
change  whatever  in  the  charter  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  in  order  that  we  might  change  its  corporate  name. 
It  has  been  thought  best  to  change  the  corporate  name 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  partly  in  order  that  the 
name  of  the  institution  might  more  fittingly  correspond 
to  the  work  that  it  has  been  doing  for  so  many  years. 


154  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

and  partly,  also,  that  the  new  name  might  serve  as  an  in- 
spiration for  new  effort,  and  mark  a  new  departure  in  the 
direction  of  higher  and  more  extended  work  in  the  great 
realm  of  pure  culture,  as  that  realm  divides  itself  into  the 
three  great  kingdoms  of  philosophy,  science,  and  literature. 

And  so  it  is  my  pleasure,  for  expression  of  which  I 
have  no  equivalent  in  words,  to  say  that  the  wishes  of 
the  alumni  in  this  respect  have  at  last  been  fully  real- 
ized; to  say  that  the  faculty,  trustees,  and  alumni  stand 
together,  and,  as  with  the  voice  of  one  man,  give  their 
hearty  approval  to  the  change  that  has  taken  place. 

It  is  my  great  pleasure  to  say  that  from  this  moment 
what  heretofore  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  has  been 
known  as  the  College  of  New  Jersey  shall  in  all  future 
time  be  known  as  Princeton  University. 

As  the  new  name  was  announced  the  audience  broke 
into  immense  applause,  which  settled  into  deep,  concerted, 
shattering  cheering,  each  cheer  ending  with  the  triple 
"  Princeton  University."  With  a  blare  of  trumpets  silence 
was,  after  many  minutes,  restored,  and  President  Patton, 
with  uplifted  hand,  cried,  "God  bless  Princeton  University, 
and  make  us  faithful  in  her  service ! " 

The  orchestra  then  played  a  short  selection,  after  which 
began  the  ceremony  of  conferring  the  honorary  degrees. 
The  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  rose  in  his  place  and, 
standing  covered,  said:  "The  recipients  of  honorary  de- 
grees will  present  themselves  before  the  President  as  their 
names  are  called.  The  Reverend  Professor  Shields  will 
present  in  Theology  and  Philosophy."  Professor  Shields 
read  the  names  of  the  gentlemen  who  were  to  receive  the 
honorary  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity,  and  as  each  came  to 
the  front  of  the  platform  and  faced  the  audience,  standing 
near  Professor  Shields,  the  latter  pronounced  the  titles  and 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  155 

mentioned  some  of  the  distinguished  works  of  the  recipient, 
and  then  turning,  led  him  to  a  place  in  front  of  President 
Patton,  who  remained  seated  and  covered.  When  the  group 
was  complete,  the  President  said:  "Auctoritate  mihi  a  Cu- 
ratoribus  Universitatis  Princetoniensis  commissa  vos  ad 
summum  gradum  in  divinitate  admitto."  The  President 
then  arose  and,  uncovering,  extended  his  hand  to  each  in 
turn,  and  after  a  word  of  greeting  they  were  escorted  to 
their  seats  by  Professor  Shields. 

In  the  same  manner  Professor  Shields  presented  a  group 
of  men  distinguished  in  philosophy,  upon  whom  was  con- 
ferred the  degree  of  doctor  of  laws,  the  word  "  legibus  " 
being  substituted,  in  the  President's  formula,  for  "divinitate." 

When  this  portion  of  the  ceremony  was  completed,  the 
Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  again  standing  covered, 
said:  "  Professor  Young  will  present  in  Mathematics,  and 
in  the  Physical  and  in  the  Natural  Sciences."  Professor 
Young  called  upon  the  distinguished  gentlemen  and  pre- 
sented them,  and  to  each  group  as  it  was  formed  the  Presi- 
dent, in  the  manner  already  described,  said:  "Auctoritate 
mihi  a  Curatoribus  Universitatis  Princetoniensis  commissa 
vos  ad  summum  gradum  in  legibus  admitto." 

The  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  in  like  manner  said : 
"Professor  Sloane  will  present  in  History,  in  the  Political 
Sciences,  and  in  Education."  Professor  Sloane  introduced 
the  recipients,  and  the  President  conferred  upon  them  the 
same  degree. 

The  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  finally  announced: 
"  The  Dean  of  the  Faculty  will  present  in  Archaeology, 
Philology,  Literature,  and  Art."  Dean  Murray  then  pre- 
sented the  distinguished  gentlemen  upon  whom  the  degrees 
of  doctor  of  laws,  doctor  of  letters,  or  doctor  of  music  were 
to  be  conferred  in  recognition  of  their  services  in  the  above- 
mentioned  fields,  and  the  President  received  them  with  the 


156  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

same  address,  but  using  the  words  "legibus,"  "  litteris  hu- 
manioribus,"  or  "  musica,"  as  occasion  demanded. 

When  the  groups  of  scholars  presented  by  the  Reverend 
Professor  Shields,  Professor  Young,  Professor  Sloane,  and 
the  Dean  of  the  Faculty  had  thus  received  their  honorary 
degrees,  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  said:  "  I  have 
the  honor  to  announce  that  the  Trustees  of  Princeton  Uni- 
versity have  conferred  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  in 
absentia  upon  the  following  persons : 

The  Right  Honorable  the  LORD   KELVIN, 

Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Glasgow. 

OTTO  VON  STRUVE, 

Formerly    Director    of   the    Imperial    Astronomical    Observatory   at 
Pulkova,  Russia." 

Then,  removing  his  cap,  the  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees announced  that  the  ceremony  of  conferring  the  hon- 
orary degrees  was  concluded.  It  had  been  followed  with 
great  interest  by  the  spectators,  and  was  indeed  a  notable 
sight.  The  groups  of  honored  and  in  many  cases  venerable 
men  who  stood  arrayed  in  Princeton  hoods  before  Presi- 
dent Patton  and  were  by  him  welcomed  first  in  formal 
Latin,  and  then  with  informal  cordiality  in  English  and  with 
a  grasp  of  his  hand,  into  fellowship  with  the  long  roll  of 
Princeton's  alumni;  the  brief  but  effective  remarks  of  those 
who  presented  them ;  the  hearty  recognition  given  by  all 
present  to  some  of  the  most  celebrated  recipients, —  all  this 
composed  a  scene  of  academic  ceremony  unique  in  this 
country.  The  recipients  of  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity  were: 

The  Reverend  Professor  WILLIS  JUDSON  BEECHER, 
Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  Auburn,  New  York. 

The  Reverend  Professor  WILLIAM  CAVEN, 

Principal  of  Knox  College,  Toronto,  and  Professor  of  Exegetics  and 
Biblical  Criticism,  Toronto,  Canada. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  157 

The  Reverend  Doctor  MORGAN   DIX, 

Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  New  York  City. 

The  Reverend  Professor  GEORGE  PARK   FISHER, 

Titus  Street  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Dean  of  the  Divin- 
ity School  in  Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 

The  Reverend  Doctor  WILLIAM  REED  HUNTINGTON, 
Rector  of  Grace  Church,  New  York  City. 

Bishop  JOHN   FLETCHER   HURST, 

ChancelloroftheAmerican  University,  Washington,  District  of  Columbia. 

The  Reverend  Professor  CHARLES   MARSH   MEAD, 

Riley  Professor  of  Christian  Theology  in    the    Hartford  Theological 
Seminary,  Connecticut. 

The  Reverend  Doctor  SIMON  JOHN   McPHERSON, 

Pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

The  Reverend  Doctor  SAMUEL  JACK   NICCOLLS, 

Pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Saint  Louis,  Missouri. 

The  Reverend  Professor  MATTHEW  BROWN   RIDDLE, 

Memorial  Professor  of  New  Testament  Literature  and  Exegesis  in  the 
Western  Theological  Seminary,  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania. 

The  Right  Reverend  HENRY  YATES   SATTERLEE, 
Bishop  of  Washington,  District  of  Columbia. 

The  Reverend  Doctor  JOSEPH  TATE   SMITH, 

Baltimore,  Maryland. 
The  Reverend  Professor  AUGUSTUS  HOPKINS   STRONG, 

President  of  Rochester  Theological  Seminary  and  Davies  Professor  of 
Biblical  Theology,  Rochester,  New  York. 

The  Reverend  Professor  JOSEPH   HENRY  THAYER, 

Bussey  Professor  of  New  Testament  Criticism  and  Interpretation  in 
Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 

The  recipients  of  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws 
were : 

JAMES   BURRILL   ANGELL, 

President  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan. 

MAURICE   BLOOMFIELD, 

Professor  of  Sanskrit  and  Comparative  Philology  in  the  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 


158  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

KARL   BRUGMANN, 

Professor  of   Indogermanic    Philology  in  the    University  of   Leipzig, 
Germany. 

JOHN   BATES   CLARK, 

Professor  of  Political  Economy  in  Columbia  University,  New  York  City. 

JOHANNES   CONRAD, 

Professor  of  Political  Economy  in  the  University  of  Halle,  Germany. 

WILHELM    DORPFELD, 

First  Secretary  of  the  German  Archaeological  Institute,  Athens,  Greece. 

EDWARD    DOWDEN, 

Professor  of  Rhetoric    and    English    Literature    in    Trinity    College, 
Dublin,  Ireland. 

JOSIAH   WILLARD    GIBBS, 

Professor  of  Mathematical  Physics  in  Yale  University,  New  Haven, 
Connecticut. 

DANIEL  COIT  GILMAN, 

President  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

GEORGE    LINCOLN    GOODALE, 

Fisher  Professor  of  Natural   History  and  Director  of  the  Botanical 
Garden  in  Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 

WILLIAM    GARDNER    HALE, 

Professor  of  Latin  in  the  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

The  Honorable  WILLIAM  TORREY  HARRIS, 

United  States  Commissioner  of   Education,  Washington,  District  of 
Columbia. 

CHARLES   CUSTIS    HARRISON, 

Provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

GEORGE  WILLIAM    HILL, 

President  of  the  American  Mathematical  Society,  West  Nyack,  New 
York. 

ARNOLD    AMBROSIUS   WILLEM    HUBRECHT, 

Professor  of  Zoology  in  the  University  of  Utrecht,  Utrecht,  Holland. 

WILLIAM   JAMES, 

Professor  of  Psychology  in  Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  Massa- 
chusetts. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  159 

FELIX   KLEIN, 

Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  University  of  Gottingen,  Gottingen, 
Germany. 

The  Reverend  GEORGE  TRUMBULL  LADD, 

Clark  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  and  Metaphysics  in  Yale  Uni- 
versity, New  Haven,  Connecticut. 

SAMUEL  PIERPONT  LANGLEY, 

Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  Washington,  District  of 
Columbia. 

HENRY  CHARLES    LEA, 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

JOSEPH    LeCONTE, 

Professor  of  Geology  and  Natural  History  in  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia and  President  of  the  American  Geological  Society,  Berkeley, 
California. 

JAMES    LOUDON, 

President  of  the  University  of  Toronto,  Canada. 

SETH   LOW, 

President  of  Columbia  University,  New  York  City. 

JOHN  WILLIAM    MALLET. 

Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Virginia,  Charlottesville, 
Virginia. 

SILAS  WEIR  MITCHELL, 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

HENRI  MOISSAN, 

Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Paris  and  Member  of  the 
French  Academy  of  Sciences,  Paris. 

SIMON  NEWCOMB, 

Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy  in  the  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity, Baltimore,  and  Director  of  the  Nautical  Almanac,  Wash- 
ington, District  of  Columbia. 

WILLIAM  PETERSON, 

Principal  of  McGill  University  and  Professor  of  Classics,  Montreal, 
Canada. 

EDWARD  BAGNALL  POULTON, 

Hope  Professor  of  Zoology  in  the  University  of  Oxford,  Oxford, 
England. 


160  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

IRA  REMSEN, 

Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Director  of  the  Chemical  Laboratory  in  the 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

HENRY  AUGUSTUS  ROWLAND, 

Professor  of  Physics  and  Director  of  the  Physical  Laboratory  in  the 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

ANDREW  SETH, 

Professor  of  Logic  and  Metaphysics  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
Scotland. 

GOLDWIN    SMITH, 

Fellow  of   Oriel  College,   Oxford,   and  formerly   Regius   Professor   of 
Modern  History  in  the  University  of  Oxford,  Toronto,  Canada. 

JOSEPH   JOHN   THOMSON, 

Cavendish  Professor  of  Physics  in  the  University  of  Cambridge,  Cam- 
bridge, England. 

BENJAMIN    IDE  WHEELER, 

Professor  of  Greek  in  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  New  York. 


The  recipients  of  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Letters 
were : 


HENRY  MARTYN   BAIRD. 

Professor  of  the  Greek  Language  and  Literature  in  New  York  Univer- 
sity, New  York  City. 

RICHARD  WATSON    GILDER, 

Editor  of  "The  Century,"  New  York  City. 

THOMAS   RAYNESFORD   LOUNSBURY, 

Professor  of  English  in  Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 

FRANCIS  ANDREW  MARCH, 

Professor  of   the   English   Language  and   Comparative    Philology   in 
Lafayette  College,  Easton,  Pennsylvania. 

HORACE    ELISHA   SCUDDER, 

Editor  of  "The  Atlantic  Monthly,"  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

CHARLES   DUDLEY  WARNER, 
New  York  City. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  161 

The  following  gentleman  received  the  honorary  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Music : 

EDWARD  ALEXANDER  McDOWELL, 

Professor  of  Music  in  Columbia  University,  New  York  City. 

When  the  stir  occasioned  by  this  ceremony  had  subsided, 
the  orchestra  afforded  relief  to  the  audience,  somewhat  ex- 
hausted by  close  attention  with  the  eye,  and  then  President 
Patton,  rising  from  his  seat,  expressed  regret  that  the  ven- 
erable Lord  Kelvin,  the  distinguished  natural  philosopher, 
could  not  be  present  on  this  occasion,  and  read  the  following 
cable  despatch  just  received  from  him : 

I  heartily  congratulate  the  College  and  University  of  Prince- 
ton on  the  celebration  of  the  one-hundred-and-fiftieth 
year  of  its  beneficent  life  upon  which  we  look  back,  and 
on  the  new  developments  now  organized  for  continuance 
of  good  work  with  ever-increasing  energy  in  the  future. 
I  regret  exceedingly  that  my  university  engagements 
in  Glasgow  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  be  present  at 
Princeton  on  this  occasion,  and  I  ask  the  University  and 
its  friends  now  assembled  to  accept  this  telegraphic  ex- 
pression of  my  cordial  sympathy  and  good  wishes. 

Kelvin. 

The  reading  was  received  with  applause.  President  Pat- 
ton  then  said : 

It  was  our  heart's  desire  to  confer  still  another  degree  on 
this  occasion,  but  the  distinguished  gentleman  upon 
whom  we  wished  to  confer  it  has  seen  fit  to  use  the 
sovereign  power  of  the  American  people  which  he  rep- 
resents in  the  interests  of  his  own  modesty,  and  there 
was  nothing  left  for  us  to  do  but  to  treat  his  wishes  as 


162  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

a  command.  We  are,  however,  much  gratified  that  we 
meet  this  morning  in  the  favoring  presence  of  the  Chief 
Magistrate  of  our  country.  It  would  have  pleased  us 
to  honor  ourselves  in  honoring  him,  and  in  so  doing  to 
bear  public  testimony  to  our  high  appreciation  of  his 
public  services  and  strong,  patriotic  position  in  this,  the 
hour  of  his  nation's  trial.  We  thank  him  with  full  and 
overflowing  hearts  to-day  for  leaving  the  cares  of  ex- 
ecutive business  in  order  that  he  may  grace  our  aca- 
demic festival,  and  we  thank  him  for  the  willingness 
that  he  has  expressed  in  response  to  our  urgent  invita- 
tion to  say  a  few  words  on  this  occasion  which  inaugu- 
rates Princeton  University. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen :    I  have  the  great  honor  of 
presenting  to  you  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

When  President  Cleveland  arose  the  entire  audience  rose 
to  greet  him,  and  burst  into  enthusiastic  and  deafening 
applause.  The  Princeton  cheer,  with  the  conclusion  "Cleve- 
land, Cleveland,  Cleveland,"  rang  with  perfect  solidity  and 
unanimity  of  sound  from  gallery  and  house  alike.  Ladies 
clapped  their  hands  and  waved  their  handkerchiefs.  The 
ovation  continued  until  the  President  was  manifestly  touched 
and  gratified.  Finally,  when  the  orchestra  drowned  the 
cheering  with  a  few  strains  of  "  Hail  Columbia,"  in  the 
midst  of  breathless  silence  he  read  slowly  and  impressively 
the  following  words  : 

Mr.  President  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 
As  those  in  different  occupations  and  with  different  train- 
ing each  see  most  plainly  in  the  same  landscape 
view  those  features  which  are  the  most  nearly  related 
to  their  several  habitual  environments,  so,  in  our  con- 
templation of  an  event  or  an  occasion,  each  individual 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  163 

especially  observes  and  appreciates,  in  the  light  his  mode 
of  thought  supplies,  such  of  its  features  and  incidents  as 
are  most  in  harmony  with  his  mental  situation. 

To-day,  while  all  of  us  warmly  share  the  general 
enthusiasm  and  felicitation  which  pervade  this  assem- 
blage, I  am  sure  its  various  suggestions  and  meanings 
assume  a  prominence  in  our  respective  fields  of  mental 
vision  dependent  upon  their  relation  to  our  experience 
and  condition.  Those  charged  with  the  management 
and  direction  of  the  educational  advantages  of  this  noble 
institution  most  plainly  see,  with  well-earned  satisfaction, 
proofs  of  its  growth  and  usefulness,  and  its  enhanced 
opportunities  for  doing  good.  The  graduate  of  Prince- 
ton sees  first  the  evidence  of  a  greater  glory  and 
prestige  that  have  come  to  his  Alma  Mater,  and  the 
added  honor  thence  reflected  upon  himself,  while  those 
still  within  her  student  halls  see  most  prominently  the 
promise  of  an  increased  dignity  which  awaits  their  grad- 
uation from  Princeton  University. 

But  there  are  others  here,  not  of  the  family  of  Prince- 
ton, who  see  with  an  interest  not  to  be  outdone  the  signs 
of  her  triumphs  on  the  fields  of  higher  education,  and 
the  part  she  has  taken  during  her  long  and  glorious 
career  in  the  elevation  and  betterment  of  a  great  people. 
Among  these  I  take  an  humble  place,  and  as  I  yield  to 
the  influences  of  this  occasion,  I  cannot  resist  the  train 
of  thought  which  especially  reminds  me  of  the  promise 
of  national  safety,  and  the  guaranty  of  the  permanence  of 
our  free  institutions,  which  may  and  ought  to  radiate 
from  the  universities  and  colleges  scattered  throughout 
our  land. 

Obviously  a  government  resting  upon  the  will  and 
universal  suffrage  of  the  people  has  no  anchorage  except 
in  the  people's  intelligence.     While  the  advantages  of  a 


164  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

collegiate  education  are  by  no  means  necessary  to  good 
citizenship,  yet  the  college  graduate,  found  everywhere, 
cannot  smother  his  opportunities  to  teach  his  fellow- 
countrymen  and  influence  them  for  good,  nor  hide  his 
talents  in  a  napkin,  without  recreancy  to  a  trust. 

In  a  nation  like  ours,  charged  with  the  care  of 
numerous  and  widely  varied  interests,  a  spirit  of  con- 
servatism and  toleration  is  absolutely  essential.  A  col- 
legiate training,  the  study  of  principles  unvexed  by 
distracting  and  misleading  influences,  and  a  correct 
apprehension  of  the  theories  upon  which  our  republic  is 
established,  ought  to  constitute  the  college  graduate  a 
constant  monitor,  warning  against  popular  rashness  and 
excess. 

The  character  of  our  institutions  and  our  national  self- 
interest  require  that  a  feeling  of  sincere  brotherhood  and 
a  disposition  to  unite  in  mutual  endeavor  should  pervade 
our  people.  Our  scheme  of  government  in  its  beginning 
was  based  upon  this  sentiment,  and  its  interruption  has 
never  failed,  and  can  never  fail,  to  grievously  menace 
our  national  health.  Who  can  better  caution  against 
passion  and  bitterness  than  those  who  know  by  thought 
and  study  their  baneful  consequences,  and  who  are 
themselves  within  the  noble  brotherhood  of  higher 
education  ? 

There  are  natural  laws  and  economic  truths  which 
command  implicit  obedience,  and  which  should  unalter- 
ably fix  the  bounds  of  wholesome  popular  discussion 
and  the  limits  of  political  strife.  The  knowledge  gained 
in  our  universities  and  colleges  would  be  sadly  deficient 
if  its  beneficiaries  were  unable  to  recognize  and  point  out 
to  their  fellow-citizens  these  truths  and  natural  laws,  and 
to  teach  the  mischievous  futility  of  their  non-observance 
or  attempted  violation. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  165 

The  activity  of  our  people,  and  their  restless  desire 
to  gather  to  themselves  especial  benefits  and  advantages, 
lead  to  the  growth  of  an  unconfessed  tendency  to  re- 
gard their  government  as  the  giver  of  private  gifts,  and 
to  look  upon  the  agencies  for  its  administration  as  the 
distributors  of  official  places  and  preferment.  Those 
who  in  university  or  college  have  had  an  opportunity  to 
study  the  mission  of  our  institutions,  and  who  in  the 
light  of  history  have  learned  the  danger  to  a  people 
from  their  neglect  of  the  patriotic  care  they  owe  the 
national  life  entrusted  to  their  keeping,  should  be  well 
fitted  to  constantly  admonish  their  fellow-citizens  that 
the  usefulness  and  beneficence  of  their  plan  of  govern- 
ment can  only  be  preserved  through  their  unselfish  and 
loving  support,  and  their  contented  willingness  to  accept 
in  full  return  the  peace,  protection,  and  opportunity 
which  it  impartially  bestows. 

Not  more  surely  do  the  rules  of  honesty  and  good 
faith  fix  the  standard  of  individual  character  in  a  com- 
munity than  do  these  same  rules  determine  the  character 
and  standing  of  a  nation  in  the  world  of  civilization. 
Neither  the  glitter  of  its  power,  nor  the  tinsel  of  its  com- 
mercial prosperity,  nor  the  gaudy  show  of  its  people's 
wealth,  can  conceal  the  cankering  rust  of  national  dis- 
honesty, and  cover  the  meanness  of  national  bad  faith. 
A  constant  stream  of  thoughtful,  educated  men  should 
come  from  our  universities  and  colleges  preaching  na- 
tional honor  and  integrity,  and  teaching  that  a  belief  in 
the  necessity  of  national  obedience  to  the  laws  of  God  is 
not  born  of  superstition. 

I  do  not  forget  the  practical  necessity  of  political  par- 
ties, nor  do  I  deny  their  desirability.  I  recognize 
wholesome  differences  of  opinion  touching  legitimate 
governmental  policies,  and  would  by  no  means  control 


166  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

or  limit  the  utmost  freedom  in  their  discussion.  I  have 
only  attempted  to  suggest  the  important  patriotic  ser- 
vice which  our  institutions  of  higher  education  and  their 
graduates  are  fitted  to  render  to  our  people,  in  the  en- 
forcement of  those  immutable  truths  and  fundamental 
principles  which  are  related  to  our  national  condition, 
but  should  never  be  dragged  into  the  field  of  political 
strife,  nor  impressed  into  the  service  of  partisan  con- 
tention. 

When  the  excitement  of  party  warfare  presses  dan- 
gerously near  our  national  safeguards,  I  would  have  the 
intelligent  conservatism  of  our  universities  and  colleges 
warn  the  contestants  in  impressive  tones  against  the 
perils  of  a  breach  impossible  to  repair. 

When  popular  discontent  and  passion  are  stimulated 
by  the  arts  of  designing  partisans  to  a  pitch  perilously 
near  to  class  hatred  or  sectional  anger,  I  would  have 
our  universities  and  colleges  sound  the  alarm  in  the 
name  of  American  brotherhood  and  fraternal  dependence. 

When  the  attempt  is  made  to  delude  the  people  into 
the  belief  that  their  suffrages  can  change  the  operation 
of  natural  laws,  I  would  have  our  universities  and  col- 
leges proclaim  that  those  laws  are  inexorable  and  far 
removed  from  political  control. 

When  selfish  interest  seeks  undue  private  benefit 
through  governmental  aid,  and  public  places  are  claimed 
as  rewards  of  party  service,  I  would  have  our  univer- 
sities and  colleges  persuade  the  people  to  a  relinquish- 
ment of  the  demand  for  party  spoils  and  exhort  them  to 
a  disinterested  and  patriotic  love  of  their  government  for 
its  own  sake,  and  because  in  its  true  adjustment  and  un- 
perverted  operation  it  secures  to  every  citizen  his  just 
share  of  the  safety  and  prosperity  it  holds  in  store  for  all. 

When  a  design  is  apparent  to  lure  the  people  from 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  167 

their  honest  thoughts,  and  to  bhnd  their  eyes  to  the  sad 
pHght  of  national  dishonor  and  bad  faith,  I  would  have 
Princeton  University,  panoplied  in  her  patriotic  tradi- 
tions and  glorious  memories,  and  joined  by  all  the  other 
universities  and  colleges  of  our  land,  cry  out  against  the 
infliction  of  this  treacherous  and  fatal  wound. 

I  would  have  the  influence  of  these  institutions  on  the 
side  of  religion  and  morality.  I  would  have  those  they 
send  out  among  the  people  not  ashamed  to  acknowledge 
God,  and  to  proclaim  His  interposition  in  the  affairs  of 
men,  enjoining  such  obedience  to  His  laws  as  makes 
manifest  the  path  of  national  perpetuity  and  prosperity. 

I  hasten  to  concede  the  good  already  accomplished  by 
our  educated  men  in  purifying  and  steadying  political 
sentiment,  but  I  hope  I  may  be  allowed  to  intimate  my 
belief  that  their  work  in  these  directions  would  be 
easier  and  more  useful  if  it  were  less  spasmodic  and 
occasional.  The  disposition  of  our  people  is  such  that, 
while  they  may  be  inclined  to  distrust  those  who  only 
on  rare  occasions  come  among  them  from  an  exclusive- 
ness  savoring  of  assumed  superiority,  they  readily  listen 
to  those  who  exhibit  a  real  fellowship  and  a  friendly  and 
habitual  interest  in  all  that  concerns  the  common  wel- 
fare. Such  a  condition  of  intimacy  would,  I  believe, 
not  only  improve  the  general  political  atmosphere,  but 
would  vastly  increase  the  influence  of  our  universities 
and  colleges  in  their  efforts  to  prevent  popular  delusions 
or  correct  them  before  they  reach  an  acute  and  danger- 
ous stage.  I  am  certain,  therefore,  that  a  more  constant 
and  active  participation  in  political  affairs  on  the  part  of 
our  men  of  education  would  be  of  the  greatest  possible 
value  to  our  country. 

It  is  exceedingly  unfortunate  that  politics  should  be 
regarded  in  any  quarter   as  an    unclean    thing,   to   be 


168  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

avoided  by  those  claiming  to  be  educated  or  respectable. 
It  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  anything  related  to  the 
administration  of  our  government  or  the  welfare  of  our 
nation  should  be  essentially  degrading.  I  believe  it  is 
not  a  superstitious  sentiment  that  leads  to  the  conviction 
that  God  has  watched  over  our  national  life  from  its 
beginning.  Who  will  say  that  the  things  worthy  of 
God's  regard  and  fostering  care  are  unworthy  of  the 
touch  of  the  wisest  and  best  of  men  ? 

I  would  have  those  sent  out  by  our  universities  and 
colleges  not  only  the  counsellors  of  their  fellow-country- 
men, but  the  tribunes  of  the  people  —  fully  appreciating 
every  condition  that  presses  upon  their  daily  life,  sym- 
pathetic in  every  untoward  situation,  quick  and  earnest 
in  every  effort  to  advance  their  happiness  and  welfare, 
and  prompt  and  sturdy  in  the  defence  of  all  their  rights. 

I  have  but  imperfectly  expressed  the  thoughts  to 
which  I  have  not  been  able  to  deny  utterance  on  an 
occasion  so  full  of  glad  significance,  and  so  pervaded  by 
the  atmosphere  of  patriotic  aspiration.  Born  of  these 
surroundings,  the  hope  cannot  be  vain  that  the  time  is 
at  hand  when  all  our  countrymen  will  more  deeply 
appreciate  the  blessings  of  American  citizenship,  when 
their  disinterested  love  of  their  government  will  be 
quickened,  when  fanaticism  and  passion  shall  be  ban- 
ished from  the  field  of  politics,  and  when  all  our  people, 
discarding  every  difference  of  condition  or  opportunity, 
will  be  seen  under  the  banner  of  American  brotherhood, 
marching  steadily  and  unfalteringly  on  towards  the 
bright  heights  of  our  national  destiny. 

As  no  address  more  suited  to  the  hour  and  the  audience 
could  possibly  have  been  made,  so  no  speaker  could  have 
found  more  attentive  and  sympathetic  listeners;  and  if  the 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  169 

welcome  they  gave  to  the  President  was  enthusiastic,  their 
reception  of  his  words  was  overwhelming.  Round  after 
round  of  cheering  rose  from  the  great  assemblage  of  college 
graduates.  Every  variety  of  Princeton  cheer  rent  the  air. 
To  each  salvo  was  added  "  Cleveland,  Cleveland,  Cleve- 
land," and  finally  three  cheers  were  given  for  Mrs.  Cleve- 
land. The  orchestra  and  organ  at  last  managed  to  make 
themselves  heard  through  the  thundering  volleys  of  cheers. 
As  they  played  the  well-known  music  of  "  America,"  the 
vast  throng,  which  had  been  standing  through  the  cheer- 
ing, with  one  voice  took  up  the  national  hymn  with  the 
deepest  patriotic  fervor: 


My  country,  'tis  of  thee, 
Sweet  land  of  liberty, 

Of  thee  I  sing. 
Land  where  my  fathers  died, 
Land  of  the  pilgrims'  pride, 
From  every  mountain  side 

Let  freedom  ring. 

My  native  country, —  thee. 
Land  of  the  noble,  free, 

Thy  name  I  love  ; 
I  love  thy  rocks  and  rills, 
Thy  woods  and  templed  hills, - 
My  heart  with  rapture  thrills. 

Like  that  above. 


Our  fathers'  God, —  to  Thee, 
Author  of  liberty. 

To  Thee  we  sing ; 
Long  may  our  land  be  bright 
With  freedom's  holy  light, — 
Protect  us  by  Thy  might, 

Great  God,  our  King. 


170  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Right  Reverend 
Henry  Yates  Satterlee,  Bishop  of  Washington.  The  audi- 
ence resumed  their  seats  until  President  and  Mrs.  Cleve- 
land, with  their  host  and  hostess,  President  and  Mrs.  Patton, 
had  left  the  building. 

Immediately  after  the  exercises  in  Alexander  Hall,  Presi- 
dent and  Mrs.  Patton  entertained  at  a  luncheon  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States  and  Mrs.  Cleveland,  with  the 
delegates  and  other  invited  guests ;  and  at  three  o'clock 
the  hospitable  gates  of  Prospect  were  thrown  open  to  a 
larger  number  of  persons  invited  to  meet  President  and 
Mrs.  Cleveland.  The  many  hundreds  who  availed  them- 
selves of  this  invitation  were  introduced  first  to  Doctor  and 
Mrs.  Patton  at  the  main  door  of  the  large  drawing-room, 
and  by  them  presented  to  the  President  and  Mrs.  Cleveland. 
An  opportunity  was  given  not  only  to  meet  the  distin- 
guished guests,  but  also  to  wander  over  the  terraces  and 
enjoy  the  beautiful  landscape  to  which  the  mansion  owes 
its  name  of  Prospect.  At  about  five  o'clock  the  President 
and  his  party  were  escorted  by  the  City  Troop  to  the  sta- 
tion, and  left  Princeton  for  Washington. 

The  University  Musical  Clubs  gave  a  concert  of  student 
music  in  Alexander  Hall  in  the  evening.  It  was  attended  by 
a  large  audience.     The  programme  performed  was : 

Part   I. 

1.  The  Orange  and  the   Black  .  Carmina  Princetonia. 

Glee  Club. 

2.  Anniversary Rosey. 

Banjo  Club. 

3.  Old  Black  Joe Foster. 

6".   T.  Carter,  Jr.,  '86,  and  Glee  Club. 


•^^m^^t^nm^^mf  * 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  173 

temps  que  I'esprit.  J'ai  admire  aussi  avec  quel  enthou- 
siasme  de  genereux  donateurs  vont  au  devant  de  vos 
desirs  et  mettent  une  partie  de  leur  fortune  au  service  de 
la  haute  culture  intellectuelle. 

Vos  generations  d'el^ves  sont  pleines  de  seve  et  d'ac- 
tivite,  comme  ces  beaux  pieds  de  lierre  touffus  et  vigou- 
reux  qui  entourent  le  vieux  batiment  de  Nassau,  le  foyer 
de  votre  universite. 

On  sent  dans  votre  college  les  liens  affectueux  qui 
unissent  les  maitres  aux  eleves.  C'est  qu'en  effet,  si  les 
larges  constructions,  si  les  grands  laboratoires,  si  les 
spacieuses  bibliotheques  sont  utiles,  il  est  quelque  chose 
de  plus  indispensable,  c'est  le  lien  moral  qui  reunit  le 
tout,  c'est  I'esprit  qui  dirige  ces  enseignements,  ce  sont  les 
recherches  nouvelles  poursuivies,  dans  des  voies  dif- 
ferentes,  par  les  professeurs,  ce  sont  les  sentiments  de 
reconnaissance  des  eleves ;  tout  cela  c'est  I'ame  meme 
de  I'universite. 

Aussi  nous  sommes  heureux  de  voir  que  votre  uni- 
versite s'appuie  en  grande  partie  sur  I'enseignement  donne 
a  I'ecole  de  Lawrenceville.  Vous  preparez  les  esprits, 
par  une  bonne  instruction  secondaire,  a  la  culture  supe- 
rieure  de  Princeton. 

Croyez  bien  que  toutes  ces  choses  sont  connues  et 
suivies  en  France  avec  le  plus  vif  interet.  Rien  de  ce 
qui  se  fait  dans  la  grande  Republique  americaine  n'est 
indifferent  a  la  Republique  fran^aise.  Nous  n'avons  pas 
oublie  que  dans  un  temps  deja  lointain  nos  grands  peres 
ont  mele  leur  sang  au  votre  sur  les  champs  de  bataille 
pour  la  cause  sacree  de  votre  independence.  Et  quand 
vous  luttez  sur  un  nouveau  terrain,  quand  vos  univer- 
sites  prennent  un  developpement,  un  essor  inattendu, 
quand  dans  I'astronomie,  dans  la  physique,  dans  la  pale- 
ontologie,    dans    I'histoire,    vous    devenez    des    maitres 


174  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

incontestes,  la  France  applaudit  a  vos  efforts  et  a  vos 
succes. 

Aussi  je  suis  personnellement  heureux  d'avoir  ete 
choisi  par  I'Universite  de  Paris  pour  vous  apporter  tous 
ses  voeux  et  toutes  ses  felicitations.  Le  College  de 
Princeton  a  deja  grave  son  nom  dans  I'histoire  des 
Etats-Unis,  c'est  le  passe ;  je  bois  a  I'avenir,  je  leve 
mon  verre  en  I'honneur  de  I'Universite  de  Princeton. 

The  regular  toasts  of  the  evening  were  responded  to  as 
follows :  Theology,  by  Professor  George  Park  Fisher, 
Dean  of  the  Yale  Divinity  School;  Philosophy,  by  Pro- 
fessor Andrew  Seth  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh;  Juris- 
prudence, by  the  Honorable  William  B.  Hornblower  of 
New  York ;  Mathematics,  by  Professor  Felix  Klein  of  the 
University  of  Gottingen;  the  Natural  Sciences,  by  Pro- 
fessor Arnold  Ambrosius  Willem  Hubrecht  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Utrecht;  the  Physical  Sciences,  by  Professor  Ira 
Remsen  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University;  History,  by 
Professor  Goldwin  Smith  of  Toronto;  Literature,  by  Pro- 
fessor Edward  Dowden  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin ;  and 
the  Higher  Education,  by  the  Honorable  William  T.  Harris 
of  Washington. 

Some  of  these  speeches  bore  more  or  less  directly  upon 
the  subjects  of  the  toasts,  and  were  additionally  valuable  for 
that  reason;  others  were  of  a  less  formal  character,  and  none 
the  less  interesting  for  that.  The  gentlemen  from  other 
lands,  who  had  won  so  many  friends  among  Princetonians  by 
their  lectures  here,  were  received  with  the  greatest  cordiality 
and  spoke  with  warm  feeling.  An  especially  hearty  reception 
was  given  to  the  deep  expressions  of  good  will  which  exist 
between  the  scholars  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States, 
and  to  the  frequent  mention  of  the  ties  which  bind  Prince- 
ton to  the  universities  of  the  mother  country.     Professor 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  175 

Seth  gave  first  voice  to  these  fraternal  sentiments,  which 
were  enforced  with  great  earnestness  by  Mr.  Goldwin 
Smith;  while  the  heartfelt  words  and  kindly  face  of  Pro- 
fessor Dowden  went  far  to  make  this  spirit  of  international 
concord  the  dominant  note  of  the  evening.  Finally,  in 
terms  as  eloquent  as  any  others  which  the  Sesquicentennial 
Celebration  evoked,  and  with  emotion  he  found  it  hard  to 
restrain.  President  Patton  thanked  the  guests  of  Princeton 
University  for  their  participation  in  her  jubilee;  thanked 
them  for  leaving  their  homes  and  their  important  duties, 
and  coming  from  far  and  near  to  spend  three  days  with  us; 
thanked  especially  the  delegates  who  had  crossed  the 
ocean  to  bear  the  greetings  of  older  universities  in  other 
lands,  and  wished  them  God-speed  home  again.  And  with 
this  the  Sesquicentennial  Celebration  ended. 

The  Sesquicentennial  guests  were  not  allowed  to  scatter 
to  all  parts  of  the  earth  without  being  honored  in  New 
York  City,  whence  most  of  the  European  delegates  were  to 
sail  on  Saturday,  October  24.  Mr.  Morris  K.  Jesup,  the 
President  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
hurried  forward  the  preparation  of  two  new  exhibitions,  that 
of  Vertebrate  Palaeontology  and  that  of  Ethnology,  in  order 
to  open  the  halls  containing  them  in  honor  of  Princeton's 
guests.  All  the  leading  educational  and  public  institutions 
of  the  city  were  invited  to  send  representatives,  and  the 
members  of  the  faculty  of  Princeton  University  also  re- 
ceived an  invitation. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  reception  the  entire  museum  was 
lighted.  The  ceremonies  included  a  speech  of  welcome  in 
the  Trustees'  Room,  by  the  President  of  the  Museum,  Mr. 
Morris  K.  Jesup.  The  visitors  met  the  trustees  who  were 
present,  and  were  then  introduced  to  Professor  F.  W.  Put- 
nam, Curator  of  the  Department  of  Ethnology  and  An- 


176 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 


thropology,  and  were  conducted  through  his  exhibit,  as 
arranged  chiefly  by  Dr.  Franz  Boas.  They  then  mounted  to 
the  hall  containing  the  Fossil  Mammals  of  North  America, 
and  were  introduced  to  the  curator,  Professor  Henry  Fair- 
field Osborn.  The  screen  was  withdrawn  and  the  hall 
opened  for  the  first  time  after  five  years  of  continuous  ex- 
ploration in  the  West.  The  exhibition  also  includes  the 
famous  Cope  Collection,  the  larger  part  of  which  had  not 
been  seen  by  the  public  before.  Then  on  the  evening  of 
Friday,  the  23d,  the  University  Club  in  the  City  of  New 
York  gave  a  reception  and  dinner  to  the  foreign  delegates 
at  the  Club  House  at  Twenty-sixth  Street  and  Madison 
Avenue.     The  Reception  Committee  was  as  follows : 


Tompkins  McIlvaine. 

Edward  Mitchell. 

Robert  Bridges. 

Arthur  Lincoln. 

Charles  Bulkley  Hubbell. 

Gherardi  Davis. 

James  R.  Sheffield  (Chairman). 

Samuel  R.  Betts. 

Sherman  Evarts. 

Grosvenor  Atterbury. 

Charles  Rowland  Russell. 

Lawrence  E.  Sexton. 

W.  K.  Draper. 

Carl  A.  de  Gersdorff. 

Austen  G.  Fox. 

Almon  Goodwin. 

Grosvenor  S.  Hubbard. 

Henry  D.  Cooper. 

Ashton  Le  Moine. 

Tracy  H.  Harris. 

Jacob  W.  Miller. 

Charles  K.  Beekman. 


William  B.  Hornblower. 
William  W.  Hoppin. 
Robert  L.  Harrison. 
Arthur  H.  Masten. 
Robert  C.  Alexander. 
Henry  W.  Calhoun. 
Henry  A.  James. 
Allison  V.  Armour. 
Francis  V.  Greene. 
George  Blagden,  Jr. 
R.  W.  G.  Welling. 
Eugene  D.  Hawkins. 
Henry  W.  Hardan. 
Walter  G.  Oakman. 
Edward  B.  Merrill. 
George  A.  Plimpton. 
Berkeley  Mastyn. 
C.  Ledyard  Blair. 
Henry  Marquand. 
James  McKeen. 
M.  Taylor  Pyne. 


The  following  invitation  to  the  reception  was  sent  out: 


oke   ibniveidltij  (otub  in  t/ie  Gitij  of   Ibcw  '^IJozli 

zecjuedtd  the  honoz  of  t/ouz  coinpaiiij 

on  aildaij  evening,  (jctobez  the  twentij-thizd, 

eighteen  hundzcd  and  ninety -dix, 

at  half  paM  nine  o'clock,  to  meet 

UDtofeddot  cJ'tiedtick  cJhati  cJotugmann  of  Jaeipdic,  Jotofeddot 
^okanned  (jotitad  of  c/halle,  cJoevetend  UJoctot  \Viillam 
Gaven  of  cJotoiito,  &tt  ^,  William  UJawdon  of  &Jbotitzeal, 
\yilhelni  JJotpfeld  of  o^qthend,  J^tofeJJoz  odwatd  ^owden 
of  Dublin,  JDXofeddot  a^.  &q.  S-v.  ahubtectit  of  Ihtzeckt, 
JotofedL^ot  cjeUx  CJ\jieln  of  Ci'dttmcjen,  J^tofeddot  cnDenti 
c//boid.iati  of  J:yatid,  J^tincipal  sVilliatn  Joetetdon  of  albont- 
tealf  Jotofeddot  Sdwatd  claagnaii  Jooulton  of  Uxfotd,  J^tof- 
edJot  Cbndtew  (Zietli  of  (jdinSutgh,  J^tofcJJOt  Cjoldwin  (sfmitn 
of  (Ooionto  and  J^^tofeddot  Jjodepk  Jjokn  cJkomdon  of  (jatn- 
btidaef  delegated  ftotn  fotelgn  univetditicd  in  attendance  at  tke 
(^equlcentennial  Uelebtation  of  Jjtinceton    Ibnivetdity, 

(ok  at  led  (d.  cJoeaniaUf  | 

ciP  P    cXl^       I        I    \    Special  Committee 

cnjemii  o .  cnDowiandf  >        r  i    ^        ■; 
__    ^^  ^^  I        of  the  hotincu, 

cJ .  cftank  cGiownelf  j 

cfb.  d.  V,  p. 
'~Qwenti/-dLvtk  Street  and  DWadidon  S3,venue, 


177 


178 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 


This  invitation  was  accepted  by  the  following  citizens 
of  New  York  and  other  persons : 

The  Honorable  William   L.   Strong,  Mayor  of  New  York  City. 

Members  of  the  Judiciary. 

Judge  GiLDERSLEEVE.  J"dge  Barrett. 

Judge  Patterson.  Judge  Ingraham. 

Judge  Haight.  Judge  Wallace. 

Judge  RuMSEY.  Judge  MacLean. 

Judge  Williams.  Judge  Bischoff. 

Judge  Bookstaver.  Judge  Lawrence. 


Officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States. 


Rear-Admiral  Erben. 
Rear-Admiral  Bunce. 
General  Ruger. 
Doctor  E.  S.  Bogert. 


Colonel  William  C.   Church. 
Commodore  Sicard. 
Captain  A.  T.  Mahan. 
Professor  Peter  S.  Michie. 


Consuls. 


Hon.  Percy  Sanderson. 
Hon.  John  R.  Planten. 
Hon.  D.  U.   BoTAssi. 


Hon.  E.  Bruwaert. 
Hon.  A.  Feigel. 


Clergymen. 


The  Reverend 
The  Reverend 
The  Reverend 
The  Reverend 
The  Reverend 
The  Reverend 
The  Reverend 
The  Reverend 
The  Reverend 


Percy  S.   Grant. 

Dr.  W.   R.   Huntington. 

Dr.  David  H.   Greer. 

Dr.  Lyman  Abbott. 

Dr.  Robert  Collyer. 

Dr.  MacArthur. 

Dr.  John  Hall. 

Edward  Judson. 

Dr.  Joseph  H.  Twichell. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  179 

Physicians. 


Dr.  J.   D.   Bryant. 

Dr.  Francis  Delafield. 

Dr.  W.  T.   LusK. 


Dr.  T.  Addis  Emmet. 
Dr.  Lewis  A.  Stimson. 


Educators. 


Coltimbia  University. 
President  Seth   Low. 
Professor  John  W.  Burgess. 
Professor  E.   D.   Perry. 
Professor  J.   K.   Rees. 
Professor  F.   R.   Hutton. 
Professor  J.   H.  Van  Amringe. 
Professor  Henry  Drisler. 
Professor  W.  H.  Carpenter. 


Professor  Brander  Matthews. 
Dr.  William  H.   Draper. 
Mr.   George  H.  Baker. 
Professor  A.  V.  W.  Jackson. 
Professor  H.  T.   Peck. 
Professor  Robert  S.  Woodward. 
Professor  Henry  S.   Munroe. 


Yale  University. 
Professor  A.  T.   Hadley. 
Professor  George  J.   Brush. 
Professor  W.  W.   Farnham. 
Professor  William  L.   Phelps. 


Professor  O.   C.   Marsh. 
Professor  A.  W.  Wright. 
Professor  Tracy  Peck. 


Harvai'd. 


Professor  F.  W.   Putnam. 


TJie  Normal  Collcs^e. 

President  Thomas  Hunter. 
Professor  Harold  Jacoby. 


Barnard  College 


Mr.  Silas  B.  Brownell,  Trustee. 


College  of  t/ic  City  of  New  York. 

President  Alexander  S.  Webb. 
Professor  R.  Ogden  Doremus. 


Hobart  College. 


President  Potter. 


180  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Stevens  histitute. 

Professor  Henry  Morton. 

Professor  A.   R.   Leeds. 
Amherst  College. 

Professor  B.   K.  Emerson. 
Lehigh  University. 

Professor  W.   H.   Chandler. 
Rutgers  College. 

President  Austin  Scott. 
Roanoke  College. 

President  Julius  D.   Dreher. 

New  York  University. 

Chancellor  H.  M.   MacCracken. 
Professor  Henry  M.  Baird. 

MnJilenbcrg  College. 

President  Theodore  L.  Seip. 

TIic  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

Professor  George  F.   Barker. 

Dartmouth  College. 

Professor  Charles  F.   Mathewson. 

Brown  Un  ive  rs  ity. 

Professor  Francis  Lawton. 

Wesleyan  Uiiiversity. 

Professor  C.  T.  Winchester. 
Professor  J.   C.  Van  Benschoten. 

The  Teachers'  College. 

President  Walter  L.   Hervey. 

The  Amei'ican  Museum  of  Natural  History. 
Professor  A.   S.   Bickmore. 

The  General  Theological  Seminary. 
Dean  Hoffman. 


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PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 


183 


Anonymous,      .......  5,000.00 

Anonymous,          ......  6,600.00 

Anonymous,               .....  600,000.00 

Anonymous,          ......  250,000.00 

Anonymous,               ......  50,000.00 

John  S.  Baird,  '79,  New  York,  25.00 

Hon.  John  I.  Blair,  Blairstown,  N.  J.,  150,000.00 

Brokaw  Field  Committee,     ...  380.56 

Hon.  John  L.  Cadwalader,  '56,  New  York,  5,000.00 

Cash,     ........  5.00 

Cash,                                             ....  1 14.02 

Estate  of  Mrs.  Clark,  Washington,  D.  C,  1,000.00 

Class  of  1875,     .......  4,000.00 

Class  of  1880,         ......  1,366.65 

Class  of  1884,    ......  6,000.00 

Class  of  1890,  miscellaneous  cash,                   .  25.00 

Hugh  L.  Cole,  '59,  New  York,           ,                   .  50.00 

John  H.  Converse,  Philadelphia,  10,000.00 

Rev.  C.  L.  Cooder,  Pottstown,  Pa.,  i.oo 

Professor  E.  C.  Coulter,  '84,  Chicago,            .  100.00 

C.  C.  Cuyler,  '79,  New  York,    ....  4,000.00 

Horatio  N.  Davis,  '73,  St.  Louis,           .         .  500.00 

John  D.  Davis,  '72,  St.  Louis,                              .  3,000.00 

Cleveland  H.  Dodge,  '79,  New  York,    .         .  5,000.00 

William  Dulles,  '78,  New  York,  50.00 

John  P.  Duncan,  New  York,  1,000.00 

R.  A.  Edwards,  '76,  Peru,  Ind.,         .                  .  2,500.00 

E.  W.  Greenough,  '75,  Philadelphia,     .  200.00 

George  H.  Griffiths,  Philadelphia,     .                   .  500.00 

William  E.  Guy,  '65,  St.  Louis,    .  1,000.00 


184 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 


Rev.  Thomas  C.  Hall,  '79,  Chicago,           .  .            100.00 

A.  O.  Headley,  Newark,  N.  J.,     .          .  .              1,000.00 

Rev.  Alexander  Henry,  '70,  Philadelphia,  .              50.00 

J.  Bayard  Henry,  '76,  Philadelphia,  .              1,020.00 

Hon.  W.  B.  Hornblower,  '71,  New  York,  1,000.00 

Joseph  M.  Huston,  '92,  Philadelphia,    .  .                500.00 

Andrew  C.  Imbrie,  '95,  New  York,            .  10.00 

Adrian  H.  Joline,  '70,  New  York,          .  .             1,000.00 

Thomas  D.  Jones,  '76,  Chicago,        .         .  .         2,500.00 

David  B.  Jones,  '76,  Chicago,  2,500.00 

Miss  Mary  Kennedy,  New  York,      .  .       10,012.50 

James  Laughlin,  Jr.,  '68,  Pittsburgh,      .  .            5,000.00 

Hon.  I.  H.  Lionberger,  '75,  St.  Louis,  .        1,000.00 

Charles  B.  Lockhart,  Pittsburgh,   .         .  .           10,000.00 

Charles  H.  Macloskie,  '87,           ....  50.00 

Malcolm  MacMartin,  '67,  New  York,  .            1,000.00 

Alexander  Maitland,  New  York,        .         .  .        5,000.00 

Mrs.  Matthews,  Newark,  N.  J.,     .         .  1,000.00 

John  D.  McCord,  Philadelphia,          .  .         1,000.00 

Estate  of  Cyrus  McCormick,  Chicago,  .          100,000.00 

Fulton  McMahon,  '84,  New  York,    .  5.00 

Clarence  B.  Mitchell,  '89,  Lakewood,  N.  J.,  .  10.00 

Mrs.  William  Moir,  New  York,        .  .        5,000.00 

J.  E.  Nicholson,  '88,  New  York,  .  25.00 

Mrs.  William  Baton,  New  York,      .          .  .          1,000.00 

Dr.  James  Paul,  '49,  Philadelphia,         .  .                   50.00 

Robert  Pitcairn,  Pittsburgh,  .         2,000.00 

M.  Taylor  Pyne,  '77,  Princeton,   .  .            50,000.00 

Mrs.  M.  Taylor  Pyne,  Princeton,  1,000.00 
John  Scott,  '79,  Philadelphia,          ....          25.00 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 


185 


Edward  W.  Sheldon,  '79,  New  York,     . 
R.  E.  Speer,  '89,  New  York, 
Louis  D.  Speir,  '90,  New  York,    . 
Dr.  M.  Allen  Starr,  '76,  New  York, 
Rev.  Dr.  W.  C.  Stitt,   56,  New  York,    . 
Mrs.  William  Thaw,  Pittsburgh, 
Rev.  S.  T.  Thompson,  '5 1 ,  Tarpon  Springs, 
Transfer  from  Treasurer's  Books, 
George  Trotter,  '91,  New  York, 
T.  F.  Turner,  '89,  New  York,   .         .   .      . 
L.  C.  Vanuxem,  '79,  Philadelphia, 
Guy  S.  Warren,  '95,  St.  Louis, 
Professor  H.  C.  Warren,  "89,  Princeton, 
Professor  J.  H.  Westcott,  '77,  Princeton, 
Mrs.  Mary  L  Winthrop,  New  York,     . 
Dr.  John  E.  Woodruff,  '70,  New  York, 
R.  L.  Zabriskie,  '95,  Aurora,  N.  Y., 
Professor  A.  C.  Zenos,  Chicag^o, 


1,000.00 

10.00 

5.00 

10,000.00 

25.00 

10,000.00 

Fla.,  10.00 

50.00 

25.00 

10.00 

50.00 

500.00 

10.00 

250.00 

5,000.00 

100.00 

50.00 

50.00 

$1,361,974.73 


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Reduced  Facsimile  of  the  Congratulatory  Letter 
of  the  University  of  Bologna. 


3^art  ^econD 


CONGRATULATORY  ADDRESSES,  LETTERS  AND  TELE- 
GRAMS RECEIVED  FROM  UNIVERSITIES,  ACADEMIES, 
COLLEGES,  SOCIETIES  AND  INDIVIDUALS,  AND  ARRANGED 
ALPHABETICALLY    UNDER     THE    FOLLOWING    DIVISIONS: 

I.  UNIVERSITIES,  ACADEMIES  AND  COLLEGES. 

AMERICAN. 
CANADIAN. 
EUROPEAN. 
OTHER  COUNTRIES. 

II.  ASSOCIATIONS  AND  INDIVIDUALS. 


[AMHERST   college] 

PRAESES  ET  PROFESSORES 

COLLEGIl  AMHERSTIENSIS 

VIRIS   ILLUSTRISSIMIS   DOCTISSIMIS 

PRAESIDI   CURATORIBUS   PROFESSORIBUS 

IN  COLLEGIO  NEOCAESARIENSI  COMMORANTIBUS 

SALUTEM 

RAESES  Professoresque  huius  Collegii  vobis  summas 
gratulationes  faciunt,  quod  mox  adveniet  dies  anniver- 
sarius  centesimus  quinquagesimus,  ex  quo  Collegium 
Neocaesariense  conditum  est,  et  a  vobis  invitati  ut  participes 
saecularium  feriarum  assent,  quas  vos  celebraturi  estis,  gratias 
agunt.  Itaque  ex  suo  ordine  delegerunt  Praesidem  Merrill 
Edwards  Gates,  LL.  D.,  qui  ei  celebrationi  adesset. 

Precantur  autem  ut  rite  inaugurata  vivat,  floreat,  augeat 

UNIVERSITAS   PRINCETONIENSIS. 

Datum  Amherstii  Massachusettensium  die  primo  Junii 
A.  D.  MDCCCXCVI,  et  Collegii  Amherstiensis  LXXV. 


MERRILL   EDWARDS   GATES, 

Praeses. 

[     SEAL     ) 


192 


[  BROWN    UNIVERSITY  ] 

PRAESES   ET    PROFESSORES 

'Sanibersitatis  35runen0i0 

VIRIS  ILLUSTRISSIMIS  ET  HONORANDIS 

PRAESIDI    ET    CURATORIBUS    ET    PROFESSORIBUS 

CoUegii  iSeocae0arien0i0 

SALUTEM 

Cum  recordemur  multos  nobilissimos  collegii  Neocae- 
sariensis  viros  qui  in  omni  recto  studio  atque  humanitate 
versentur  et  memoria  teneamus  quae  arta  vincula  cum  omnes 
universitates  coniungant  tum  maxime  nostram  cum  vestra 
academia  coUigent,  Universitatem  Brunensem  enim  quasi 
prolem  vestri  collegii  venerabilis  habemus,  vobis  laeti  gra- 
tulamur  de  praeclaris  facinoribus  iam  effectis  atque  saeculum 
novum  faustum  vobis  precamur. 

Albertum  Harkness  delegimus  vicarium  qui  vobiscum 
saecularibus  feriis  laeteretur  atque  nos  omnes  vestrum  gau- 
dium  gaudebimus. 

ELISAEUS  BENJ.  ANDREWS, 

Praeses. 

Datum  Providentiae 

in  Universitate  Brunensi 

die  septimo  Aprilis 

A.  D.   MDCCCXCVI 


193 


[university   of    CALIFORNIA] 


cThe    coinniunicat'ion   fxcin    Joxinccton 

ihn'ivexAitij     in     tcfexence    to    the    coming    docjuicentennial 

ceL'btatioii  kad  been  pte.ientcd  to  out   claoatd   of  cJljegenti. 

S    am     indttiicted    to     day    that    we    cozdiaiUj    accept    the 

invitation  ana   name  aa  out  tepte.)entative  on  that  occasion 

Jjodepk    J^e    Gonte,    JoJo,Jj.,    Jjtofeddot  of    yeotocjij    and 

iBatutal  cnji)tott/  in  the  ''Ihnivet^iti/  and  Jotedident  of  the 

Sgnietican  yeological  (Society, 

We    heaxtilij    congtatulate   Joxinceton 

on    hex    long  and    honotable    hiitoty,    on    het  ptedent  pxoj- 

petitijf  and   on    hex  pxoniiie   of    a   dtill    laxgex   influence   in 

the  ijeaxd  to  come. 

qJ  have  the  honot   to  be 

ijouxd  in  cloje,H  dijmpathij, 

c)Waxtin   SoeUogg, 
SteJiJent  of  the  HbntverMi/  of  (oaltjoinia. 


etheleii,   (bal. 
^"^nil  f-/th,   iSij6. 


194 


[CARLETON    COLLEGE] 


Carleton  College, 
NoRTHFiELD,  MiNN.,  May  27,  1896. 

The  President  and  Professors  of  Carleton  College  grate- 
fully acknowledge  the  gracious  invitation  of  the  President, 
Trustees  and  Professors  of  Princeton  College,  to  attend 
the  approaching  celebration  of  her  one  hundred  and  fiftieth 
anniversary.  They  desire  to  express  their  appreciation 
of  the  large  contribution  to  learning,  to  Christian  culture 
and  to  religious  life,  which  Princeton  has  made  during 
these  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  to  congratulate  her 
on  the  proposed  enlargement  of  opportunities  for  pursuing 
the  hiohest  educational  work. 

They  sincerely  regret  that  so  far  as  can  now  be  foreseen, 
it  will  not  be  practicable  for  a  representative  of  Carleton 
College  to  be  present  upon  the  auspicious  occasion  of  the 
opening  of  Princeton  University. 

In  behalf  of 

The  Faculty  of  Carleton  College : 

James  Woodward  Strong, 

President. 


lor 


[catholic    university    of   AMERICA] 

VIRIS   ILLUSTRISSIMIS  ORNATISSIMIS  DOCTISSIMIS 

UNIVERSITATIS    PRINCETONIENSIS 

PRAESIDI   CURATORIBUS  PROFESSORIBUS 

PHILIPPUS  J.  GARRIGAN   PRO  TEMPORE  RECTOR 

NECNON  PROFESSORES  AC  DOCTORES 

UNIVERSITATIS  CATHOLICAE  AMERICANAE 

SALUTEM    IN    DOMINO 

Cum  pro  arctissimo  illo  vinculo  quo,  quotquot  toto  terrarum  orbe 
florent  Universitates  litterarum,  quasi  cogiiatione  quadam  inter  se  conti- 
nentur,  laus  uniuscujusque  ac  honos  in  alias  quoque  sponte  redundet, 
facere  omnino  non  potuimus  quin  summopere  de  festis  diebus  a  vobis 
celebrandis  una  vobiscum  gauderemus  exoptatamque  invitationem  ves- 
tram  ad  nos  tarn  gratiose  transmissam   perlibenter  exciperemus. 

Utrumque  vero  eo  majori  cum  laetitia  praestitimus  atque  praestamus, 
quo  pluribus  artium  scientiarumque  luminibus  illustratam,  quo  praeclari- 
oribus  in  Rempublicam  mentis  auctam  laetabundi  conspicimus  almam 
Academiam  vestram,  quam  vel  in  nova  hac  terra  Americana  jam  adornat 
tam  plena  auctoritatis,  tarn  fecunda,  tam  veneranda  antiquitas. 

Ouapropter,  non  per  litteras  tantum,  sed  praesentes  etiam  quantum  id 
nobis  licuit — Rectoris  vicario,  his  potissimum  diebus,  ob  Moderatorum 
conventum  variis  negotiis  distento  —  ex  animo  vobis  felicissimam  tanto- 
rum  laborum  ac  meritorum  recordationem  gratulaturi,  convocato  Senatu 
academico  nostro,  Reverendum  admodum  Dominum  Henricum  Hyvernat, 
Theologiae  Doctorem  ac  linguarum  et  antiquitatum  orientalium  Profes- 
sorem,  virum  omnibus  nominibus  praestantissimum  selegimus,  ut  votorum 
nostrorum  apud  vos  onines  testis  existeret  atque  interpres. 

Interim  Largitorem  omnium  bonorum  Deum  O.  M.,  a  quo  omne 
datum  bonum  et  omne  donum  perfectum,  enixe  rogamus  ut  vos  omnes 
diu  sospitet  et  almam  vestram  Universitatem  caelestibus  benedictionibus 
repleat  plurimos   in  annos. 

Datum  Washingtonii,  in  aula  McMahonia,  pridie  idus  Octobris,  a.  d., 

MDCCCXCVI. 

PHILIPPUS   J.    GARRIGAN. 

[     SEAL      ) 

190 


[university   of   CHICAGO] 


F^  RAESES     CVRATORES      PROFESSORES    VNIVERSITATIS 
^k    CHICAGINIENSIS   VIRIS    ILLVSTRISSIMIS   DOCTISSIMis 
,^r    PRAESIDI  CVRATORIB-  PROFESSORIB-  VNIVERSITATIS 
PRINCETONIENSIS  SALVTEM   IN  DOMINO   PERGRATVM    EST 
NOBIS     VIRI     ILLVSTRISSIMI     ET      DOCTISSIMI     VOBISCVM 
LAETARI    ANNVM     CENTESIMVM    QVINQVAGESIMVM     ESSE 
EXACTVM  EX  QVO  PATRES  NE  DISCIPLINA  ARTIBVSQ-   OPTIMis 
INDOCTOS  RELINQVERENT  POSTEROS  SEMINARIVM  DOCTRInae 
PIECONDIDERVNT  QVOD  PER  TOT  ANNOS  PRAETERITOS  PIETATe 
MAIORVM  BENEFICIISQ-    FIRMATVM  A  DEO  CVLTVM  A  VOBIS  AD 
AMPLISSIMVM    HONOREM    PERDVCTVM    lAM    INAVGVRABITVR 
VNIVERSITAS     PRINCETONIENSIS    NOS    IGITVR    PRAESES 
CVRATORES     PROFESSORES     VNIVERSITATIS     CHICAGINIENSIS 
HOC  VELIMVS  VOBIS  PERSVADEATIS    NOS  PRO  MAXIMO 
HONORE  DVCTVROS  VNVM  ALIQVEM  EX  ACADEMICO  ORDINE 
NOSTRO    AD    VOS    MITTERE    QVI    EO    TEMPORE    BEATO    VOBIS 
OMNIA  BONA   PRECETVR  VTINAM    MODO  ADIPISCATVR 
NOSTRA    TAM    NVPER    CONDITA    VNIVERSITAS    ANNVM 
CENTESIMVM     QVINQVAGESIMVM     DIGNITATIS     TAM     PLENA 
QVAM    VESTRA     ATQVE    A    DEO    PETIMVS    VT   RES    A    PATRIB- 
VOBISQ-    GESTAE    MAGNVM    PIGNVS    CVM    NOBIS    TVM    VOBIS 
IN  RELIQVVM  TEMPVS  SINT   DATVM   IN  ACADEMICO  CONCILio 
NOSTRO  A-  D-  VII-  ID  MAI-  ANNO  SALV  ITS  HVMANAE  MDCCCXCvi 

PRAESES 


197 


[university   of   CHICAGO] 


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©naez^CMti6ii5  no6t>  tJtri  intw-:)t't05iii»tl  boctt^Miuii  aiicni  ex  orbiiie 
no:>i'^o  atia.>l  utcariimi  ct"  ciraliifationo  itoc>ttae  jvuntinHiu  cib  ^aricta 
-ue^t-ta  ^^off <2 n  1  n i a  vviH:l;autti:>  cjiii^  -tal't  oj^ficio  ^ali^  biqmt:*  xcp<zz\aiuz 
M-iii-  itic  auc^n  tucpct  Diuft'i  fao^itine^  ct  confcgae  ct  eociczMi  propter 
vivufta  eitH.3  c^ga  iio>  C)cvvc['t-cta  faiibaDczmit  zcctor  iic»tcr  ct  ptacaea. 
elClc  aetttpct  imaginevn  pct^^ectae  ct  qua^i  cocfc>ti>  tlcabcutiae  in 
an'ivtto  intticn^  ca  plctate  e>apicntia  pe-r^cucrcintia  .^c  o.^tcttbtt  iit  nic 
giiiucjue  anuL-)  iciiii  niuftci  gticic  mentis  ociifi^  pcrcepetit  cum  in 
fapibi&io  ct  dcbificii^  timi  in  opci:ibll^  liiiiticitio  acucti  iitiCi:>:>unti> 
fiHccctit  forina  ucr  i  tciiic.  eHmii;  icjitii:  tani  noui  cirtimit  boniicifii  vota 
tauhci)  <xzai'ia:>  fctctitcm  cib  pt'u">CH)ii  uetu3tiiiiic|iic  ilTiib  xxi^tzu-vn  giioo 
antca  SonfcgiunvSIcocaciiarictoc  tot  boctxit-vac  :)tiibio:>i^  fuce-Hi-p-rae6wil^ 
ct  niOA^  tioui:>  uiriljii>  uouct  >pe  incitigiirati tur 

^nibersitas  ^rincetonien0i0 

tlo^  zitc  picqiic   uiU'ti  ntll.^  p^clc.^clltcl1llll:^. 

'Dattnu  in  dccibcniico  tSoncifio  no.^tro  Clnno  Scifuti:!' 
MDCCCLXXXXVI  ci.b.  XIV  diat  3nf. 

^?jCotqtii:>  Stcpli-avm^  (2oob:ipccb, 

ciG  dctix 

198 


[university    of   CINCINNATI] 

VIRIS   ILLUSTRISSIMIS  AC  DOCTISSIMIS 
PRAESIDI   CURATORIBUS   PROFESSORIBUS  COLLEGII    NEOCAESARIENSIS 

S.  p.  D. 

UNIVERSITAS   CINCINNATIENSIS 


Ouoniam  Uteris  perhumaniter  ad  unlversitatem  nostram  datis  gratum  vobis  fore 
significavistis  si  collegii  neocaesariensis  iamiam  hunc  centesimum  et  quinquage- 
simum  annum  conditi  iam  novis  auspiciis  in  universitatis  princetoniensis  formam  et 
dignitatem  amplificandi  sollemnitati  unum  ex  nobis  qui  nostro  nomine  adfuerit 
deligerimus  misimus  coUegam  nostrum 

THOMAM    HERBERTLM    NORTON 

artium  liberalium  magistrum  philosophiae  doctorem  scientiae  et  artium  liberalium  doctorem 

chemiae  professorem 

eumque  iussimus  votorum  nostrorum  pientissimorum  existere  interpretem  cum 
intersit  magnopere  hominum  omnium  ut  scientiae  literarumque  stadia  per  orbem 
terrarum  quam  maxime  floreant  atque  vigeant. 

In  cuius  rei  testimonium  sigillum  huius  universitatis  praesentibus 
literis  apponi  fecimus. 

0Philippus  Van  Ness  Myers, 
PrjEses  Facultatis  p.  t. 

Carolus  Lincoln  Edwards, 

Secretarius. 


Datum  ex  aedibus  academicis  Cincinnatis 
die  i  mensis  Octobris  anno  mdccclxxxxvi. 


199 


[  COLUMBIA    UNIVERSITY  ] 

PRAESES  •  CVRATORES  •  PROFESSORES 

•VNIVERSITATIS  •  COLVMBIAE 

■  IN  • 

VRBE  •  NOVO  •   EBORACO 

VIRIS  •   ILLVSTRISSIMIS  •  DOCTISSIMIS 

PRAESIDI  •  CVRATORIBVS  •   PROFESSORIBVS 

VNIVERSITATIS  •  PRINCETONIENSIS 

s. 

SVMMA  •  CVM  •  DELECTATIONE  •  VIRI  •  CLARISSIMI  ■  VESTRAS  ■  LITTERAS  •  ORNATAS  • 
ACCEPIMVS  -QVIBVS  -AD  ■  SOLLEMNIA  ■  APPROPINQVANTIA-  NOS  •  TAM  •  BENIGNE  -VOCA- 
VISTIS  •  QVOD  •  ACADEMIA  •  NVPER  ■  COLLEGIVM  •  SED  •  NVNC  ■  DEMVM  ■  OPTIMO  •  IVRE  • 
VNIVERSITAS  •  APPELLATA  •  OMINIBVS  •  SECVNDIS  •  AD  •  DIES  •  FERIARUM  •  RITE  ■  CELE- 
BRANDOS  •  MAGNO  ■  CVM  ■  GAVDIO  ■  NVNC  ■  ANIMVM  •  INTENDIT  ■  LIBENTER  ■  VOBIS  • 
GRATVLAMVR  ■  ILLIS  •  DIEBVS  •  LAETABILIBVS  •  ANNALIVM  ■  PRINCETONIENSIVM  ■ 
ANIMO  ■  RECORDANTES  ■  NON  ■  SINE  •  CAVSA  •  GAVDEBITIS  •  QVIS  •  ENIM  ■  LOCVS  ■  EST- 
TAM  •  BARBARVS  •  TAM-  A  -  CONSORTIO  •  HOMINVM  •  ARTIBVS  INSTRVCTORVM  -  REMO- 
TVS  •  QVO  -  FAMA  -  HVIVS  -  VNIVERSITATIS  -  PRAESTANTISSIMAE  -  NONDVM  -  PERVA- 
SERIT  ■  QVIA  -  NOS  -  COMITER  •  ROGATIS  •  VT  -  QVOSDAM  -  AD  •  VOS  •  MITTAMVS  -  QVI  • 
HVIVS  -  FELICISSIMI  ■  EVENTVS  ■  MEMORIAM  ■  IN  AVLA-  ACADEMICA  •  PRINCETONIENSI  ■ 
HOC  -  TEMPORE  •  CELEBRENT  -  NOS  •  SANE  -  VOBISCVM  ■  LAETITIAM  ■  HAVD  -  MEDIOCRI- 
TER  -  PERCIPIENTES  -  VOBISCVM  -  ETIAM  ■  AMORE  •  LITTERARVM  •  SCIENTIARVMQVE  ■ 
QVASI  •  VINCVLO  -  COMMVNI  -  INTIME  ■  CONIVNCTI  -  DE  -  ISTA  -  BENIGNITATE  •  GRATIAS  - 
NVNC  -  AGIMVS  -  AMPLISSIMAS  -  E  •  COETV  ■  NOSTRO  ■  PRAETEREA  -  AD  -  VOS  •  LEGATVM- 
lAM  -  ELEGIMVS  ■  VIRVM  -  IDONEVM  -  QVI  -  NOSTRAM  ■  ERGA  -  VOS  ■  BENEVOLENTIAM  • 
PRAESENS  ■  TESTIFICETVR  •  PRECAMVR  -  INSVPER  -  VIRI  ■  DOCTISSIMI  -  VT  -  VNIVERSI- 
TAS- PRINCETONIENSIS-  ADHVC  -  AD  -  IVVENES  -  VIROSQVE  -  FRVCTIBVS  •  DOCTRINAE  - 
EXORNANDOS  •  TAM  -  ILLVSTRIS  -  POSTHAC  •  EODEM  -  MODO  -  AD  -  SAPIENTIAM  -  EX- 
PONENDAM  -  AD  -  VIRTVTEM  -  EXCOLENDAM  -  AD  •  FIDEM  •  CHRISTIANAM  •  DENIQVE  - 
DEFENDENDAM  •  VIGEAT  •  FLOREATQVE  -  IN  ■  AETERNVM  • 

DATVM      NOVI  -  EBORACI  -  ID  ■  OCT  -  ANNO  •  D  -  N  -   MDCCCXCVI  ■ 


200 


[CORNELL   UNIVERSITY] 

Co  t|)f  f  rrsiticttt.  Crustces,  anti  jFaruUj) 

of 

^rmcrton  Mnitjfrsitp 

mc,  tfjc  f  ocultii  of  (JTonidl  anibcrsitp,  Jjabing  appointcb  our  ^vc^^ 
ibcnt  to  art  .is?  our  tidcg.itc  at  tljc  ^frsfquicnitninial  Cricfiration  of  tljc 
jfountimg  of  tJ)c  CoHcgc  of  pclu  5  crscy  'iiit>  t()c  Ccrcniomcai  iitaugu^ 
rating  Iprinrcton  aniDcrsttui,  Desire  to  tonMc^  to  you  our  Ijcartp  congra^ 
tulationiS  upon  0iic\}  an  ausiJicious  ctonit. 

Wc  congratulate  you  upon  your  illustrious^  pasft,  upon  ttjc  long  line 
of  :&cl3olarj0i  Vuljo  Ijabc  niabc  tt)e  name  of  JDrinceton  renotoneb  in  Cljurrl) 
aniJ  5*tate,  in  31  etter.^  anti  in  ^cienre.  IDc  are  especially  niintiful  of 
tlje  profounti  influence  erertcD  by  ttje  Xlumni  of  pnnceton  in  sljaping 
t^c  DestinieiS  of  tlje  Colonie^f  anb  of  ttje  dniteb  ^tate^  in  tlje  critical 
periob  of  tljeir  formation  anb  early  grototl).  IVc  congratulate  tljc 
5Drinceton  of  to^bay  upoji  tljisf  noble  inl)eritance,  tlje  trabitionary  art  of 
comfjinmg  stljolarsljip  toitt)  patriotic  beVsotion  to  affairs  of  state. 

HDc  congratulate  you  furtljer  upon  your  remarhable  increase  in 
numbers^  anb  Itjcalttj  of  enbolnment,  anb  upon  ttje  great  impenbing 
cljangc  Vuljictj  tl)ii^  prosperity  Ija^  notu  rnibercb  possible.  €l)e  College 
of  IJelu  *3  crsey  is^  to  be  transformcb  nito  Princeton  ilnibersity.  Jjour 
iStubies  are  to  be  broabeneb  anb  bcepeneb  in  accorbance  iDittj  tlje  spirit 
of  tlje  nclu  age.  iDe  confibently  erpect  tljat  tt)e  career  of  bistinguisljcb 
eircellencc  upon  Vuljicl]  you  are  about  to  enter  tuill  mahc  tljc  name  of 
Princeton  aniDersity  eben  more  famou,^  tljan  tljat  of  tlje  College  of 
eii)cto  Jersey. 

©IPrwiOriU, 
Cljarlcjs  i^enr^  i^uU, 

©rcrftarg  of  tl)j  ilniutt;3itp  JFacult^ 

Sltljaca,  ipcto  forh, 
October  lb,  1896. 


201 


[  CORNELL    UNIVERSITY  ] 

Collegi  iEolioCae0arien0i0 

^alutem  IBlunmam  ?E>icunt 
Doctorcs  ^m\)crsitati6  ContcUianae 


Hii^trn  tcr  bctnii  a  priniorbits  sctjolac  prcflnrac  princctonicnsis  per- 
acta  cdcbrantibiisf,  bocto  prnc^ibi,  ^apicnti.^sinii^  tiirnroritmjs?,  auc^ 
tortbua  rcciini  florcntiuni,  atuninia  omni  boctrinac  pracistantia  \)itacqiic 
ricgantiisf  oriwtts,  bigins  Sonarum  artium  boctoritmjei,  nrciion  cannibcm 
ct  tionac  famac  collegi  stubiosi^sinilis  abulcscentilm.s  nostra  ipeorum 
nomine  omniunique  qiubiis  seljola  3tl)«cf»si.a  aeque  corbi  est,  gratula^: 
nnir  boctores  Cinitersitatis  Cornellianae. 

^aubennis  collcfinnii  lieetruni  per  tot  annos  practeritos  littcra? 
Ijunianiore^  Vieraniquc  boctrhiani  tani  biltgcnter,  tani  fortiter,  tani  fcli- 
titer  befenbisjsfe,  atquc  ibeo  niagia  optanni.i^  ct  auouraniur  fore  ut 
iUni\Jcrsita^  princctonini^sis  per  saeciila  \)enientia  trescat  ct  floreat. 

Jacobam  ©oulo  ^djiirmaiiiim  pmrsiorm  tiostruni  Drirginuis 
qui  rpulis  soUcmnibii^  lartabimDii^  arcnmbrrrt. 

9!acobu0  (^.  ^cljurman, 

PratsfB. 

SDabanius  S'tljacac, 
511.  r.  s.  mbcccvcbi. 


202 


[DARTMOUTH    COLLEGE] 

Praeses  (^uratores  Professores 

Collegli  P)artmuthensls 

Vins  (^larissimis  £rLiditissimis 

Praesidi  Curatoribus  Professoribus 

Collegii  Jsjeocaesariensis 

SD  p 


(jrratias  agimus  quam  plurimas,  Viri  Doctissimi,  quod  inter  tot  universi- 
tates  sive  collegia,  cum  domi  turn  peregre,  nos  quoque  Dartmuthenses, 
vobis  pluribus  retinaculis  coniunctos,  et  amicissimo  animo  salvere  iussis- 
tis,  et  unum  e  nobis  ad  hoc  delectum  mittere,  quern  mense  Octobri  huiusce 
anni  per  festos  dies  anniversarios  hospitio  benignissimo  acciperetis. 
Quo  tempore  ipsum  scitote  Praesidem  nostrum  adesse  animo  intendere, 
qui  tam  vobis  ista  agentibus  saecularia  verbis  nostris  gratuletur,  quam 
omnibus,  qui  tunc  temporis  ad  vos  convenerint,  id  multo  uberiore  oratione 
explicatiusque,  quam  per  litteras  fieri  potest,  praesens  praesentibus  con- 
firmet  quod  de  Collegio  Neocaesariensi  in  Vniversitatem  Princetonien- 
sem  tunc  rite  auguratoque  evecto  speramus ;  scilicet  fore  ut  illas  vitae 
humanioris  lampadas  (sit  venia  verbis  tritissimis)  abhinc  annos  centum 
et  quinquaginta  accensas,  atque  inter  praeceptores  vestros  alteri  ab  altero, 
spatio  aetatis  decurso,  toties  in  manus  datas,  nunc,  flammis  denuo  excitatis 
ardentes,  longius  iam  latiusque  relucentes,  vos,  pariter  strenui  cursores  ac 
torosi  illi  adulescentes,  quos  modo  Olympiorum  victoriam  consequi  vidi- 
mus, quam  longissime  perferatis ;  cumque  immane  quantum  cursum  per- 
egeritis,  calcem  denique  conspicati,  ferendas  deinceps  pieque  fovendas  iu- 
ventuti  robustissimae  tradatis.     Valete. 

Dabamus  Hanoverae 

a.  d.  xvii  Kal.  Mai. 

anno  MDCCCXCVI° 

GUILIELMUS  J.  TUCKER, 

Praeses. 
FRANCISCUS   G.  MOORE, 

pro  Praecejitoribus. 

203 


[university    of   DENVER] 


University  of  Denver, 

University  Park,  Colo.,  Oct.  19,  1896. 


To  THE  Secretary  of  the  Princeton  Sesquicentennial  Celebration: 

I  had  hoped  until  a  few  days  ago  that  I  might  be  able  to  repre- 
sent the  University  of  Denver  this  week  in  Princeton.  But  the  immense 
distance  and  imperative  duties  combine  to  prevent  my  coming  in  person. 
We  send  our  regrets  and  salutations.  We,  beginning  life,  salute  you, 
having  nobly  lived  for  years.  Princeton's  influence  is  very  great  even 
here  in  the  distant  West.  We  are  held  to  better  educational  ideals  by 
your  steadfast  example.  Historic  methods  and  principles  are  more  easily 
maintained  in  an  experimenting  age,  by  reason  of  Princeton's  holding 
fast  to  the  things  already  proved.  But  progress  is  also  made  easier  for 
us  by  your  ready  acceptance  of  what  is  new  and  true.  We  find  it  easier 
to  uphold  the  Christian  philosophy  of  education  because  of  your  abiding 
devotion  to  Christ  as  the  centre  of  highest  culture.  In  these  and  in 
many  other  ways  we  are  your  debtors.  May  all  richest  blessings  rest 
upon  the  new  University  for  untold  ages. 

The  trustees,  faculty  and  students  of  the  University  of  Denver  send 

greetings. 

Yours  sincerely, 

WILLIAM  F.  McDowell, 

Chancellor. 


204 


[GEORGETOWN    UNIVERSITY.] 


<>"-  % 

^     Colleati  iSeocae0arien0i0      <^ 

®nilier0ita0  (^eorgiopolitana 
^alutem 

£tttezai  otnatiAMmai  in  quibud  de  die  annlvcziaiio  (Sollcqii  vcdhi  ccntedlmo  quln- 
quagcMino  rite  agendo  cettioxei  faeti  ^umtid  lihentldMtne  accepimtta  et  maximad  vobii 
agtinuA  i]xaita.i  quod  no,i  vedhi  tn  fezii.i  daectdazilniA  celebtandid  gaudii  pazticiped  edde 
voluiitid. 

6mned  quidem  S3,niezicanoA gaudeze  opoztet  zecozdanted  atqiie  ipMi  oculid  ceznente^ 
quanta  azdoxe  in  omndiui  nostzae  zcgionid  pazttbu.s  opttmazuin  aztiuin  dfudia  et  duci- 
pltnae  libezale^  excolantuz.  Jsatzej  enini  et  conditozei  anipliddiniae  liujuj  zei  publicae 
nthti  anttqutud  kabiiezunt  quam  tit  adoledcentcj  nojtzi  ad  onineni  kumanttateni  infoz- 
mazentuz  quo  melwzes  cvadezent  cive.i  ac  dibl  et  zei  publicae  lionoti  et  emolumento  edde 
poddent.  ^apzoptez  ctvitatu  funaanientiA  vixjactij  illas  Jcientiazum  deded  condtitue- 
ziint  quae  hodie  omnium  laudibud  effezuntuz,  cJntez  qua.i  ncmini  dubium  eJJc  potedt 
qinn  pzaecipuum  tcniiezit  ac  teneat  locum  (collegium  ibeocae.iaziendc. 

'VobiA  tgttuz  feziad  Jaeculaze.i  .wlemnitez  agentibui  ex  animo  qzatulamuz  hujiuque 
gzatulationij  tedtem  dedignamud  crhevezendum  Satzem  ^odepkuin  BGavens  Efl>ichaxdj, 
e  docietate  ^cmi,  hujud  '^bnivezditatid  cfbectozem,  qui  fedtivitatibud  vedtzid  intezMt  vobijque 
dignificet  quam  vekementez  exoptemuA  ut  bcneftctu  quae  pez  centum  quinquaqinta 
annoA  oollegium  ibeocaedaztende  patztae  nodtzae  contulezit,  novi<i  nunc  aucta  vizibud 
novaque  nomine  tndtgnita  'xhniwzMtaA  SSzincetontendU  majoza  in  died  mezita  adjiciat. 
Datae  X Kal.  Sepiembr&s,  Anno  Domini  MDCCCXCf^I-  Georgiopoli. 

^odepliud  &Savend  cPbichazdd,  S,  ^.f 

©^zaeded. 
^ulielmua  ^,  Snnid,  G?,  ^„ 

'Vice-S^zaeded. 
205 


[hampden-sidney  college] 

^zaeded  et  Jozofeddozed  ahampclendidneiendcd 
vv.    (ol.  Jotaedidi  (hatatoulnid  £!ozofe,idotibud 
cS,ca  c/etn  iae   Ibeo-Ga  eda  zien .iid 

^.  2).  ig, 

C?x  humatiiMtniiii  iucundiddlmidque  iittet'id  vedHid, 
viti  ciatlddiml  et  etualtiddiml,  ilium  diem  apptopinquate 
iaett  accepiinud  quo  ale  tanto  tarn  lauaabiii  cutdu  lain 
etnenao  praeclata  acadetnia  veMta  exdtltuta  e,it  Ibntvet- 
ditad.  Ibeque  eniin  potest  in  hoc  pulclita  docietate  nodtta, 
unud  dociud  ad  dutn/nuni  ataduin  nonotid  petpeniie  ut 
noti  onitie,)  cotninuni ^ audio  afficiantut.  Ibod  etqo  dutn 
loci,)  oMcuziotioud  atnotein  honatiun  axtlutn  fovete  et 
ptopagate  dtudeniwi  non  poddumu.i  quia  dumma.)  arced 
littetatutn  eniuniti  et  coridtabiliti  aaudea/nud, 

^lod  ut  ptaedetite.)  ptaedentibud  vobid  oateadainud 
auctamque  dignitatem  vedttam  una  cum  cetetid  pto 
vedtza  urbanitate  invitatid  gtato  ote  laudemud  ad  diem 
ptaefinitam  pet  lec/atum  ptofeJdoteni  Cualtetuni  clolait 
nidi  quid  accidezit  adetimiu, 

SD.  a.  d.  yi  SGal.  <S4pt. 

S^.S).  CDDCCCLXXXXl^I 

ox  Q/S,cademla  9t>ampdenjidnelcnjt, 


206 


[  HARVARD    UNIVERSITY  ] 


QRAESES-  SOCII-  INSPECTORES-  PROFESSORES  IN-  VNI- 
I  VERSITATE  ■  HARVARDIANA  COMMORANTES  PRAESIDI 
CVRATORIBVSPROFESSORIBVSCOLLEGII-  NEOCAESARIEN- 
SIS  •  VIRIS     ILLVSTRISSIMIS  •   DOCTISSIMIS  ■  S 


I  ITTERAS    VESTRAS  ■  VIRI  ■  ILLVSTRISSIMI     ET-  DOCTISSIMI 

I ACCEPIMVS-  EX-  QVIBUS-  INTELLEXIMVS-  SVMMO    CVM 

GAVDIO-VOS-  MOX-  CELEBRATVROS  •  SiMVL-  ET    DIEMAN- 
NIVERSARIVM-  COLLEGII    NEOCAESARIENSIS  ■  ET    NATALEM 

VNIVERSITATIS    PRINCETONIENSIS 


IVVABIT  NOS  CVM-  DIES  FESTI  ADERVNT-VNVMALIQVEM 
ID  QVOD  BENIGNE  PETITIS  E- NVMERQ- NOSTRO- LEGARE 
QVI-  FERIIS-  SOLLEMNIBVS  INTERSIT-  IDEMQVE-  BEATISSIMI 
VT-  SPERAMVS  ■  SAECVLI  -  INITIO  -  NASCENTI  -  VNIVERSITATI 
EA-  QVA-  PAR-  EST-  BENEVOLENTIA  -  NOSTRO  NOMINE 
GRATVLETVR 

Gacolud  CjuilSliot 

PRAESES 
DAT  •   ID  •  APR 

A  ■  CIO  O  CCC  LXXXX  VI 

CANTABRIGIA 

[      SEAL      J 


207 


[harvard  university] 

^ar\3avti  ®ni\)ers;itjj  to  ^vittccton  ®tti\)ersiti) 

©n  tl)t  atispirious;  orraeion  of  tljr  one  IjunfircD  anU  fiftirtl) 
0nniljfrsaii'  of  tl)r  fouuDtng  of  priuccton  uHniUngitv'. 

(jfie  Joted'ident  and  c/ellow^i  of  cnoatvatd  Gollege 
de^lte  to  dead  to 

uke  cJtudteed  and  c/aculti/  of  the  (boLU^e  of  loew  M^'^^^y 
heattu  gtcetln^df   congxatiLiationd   on    the   achievementJ    of   the 
Gollege  of  ibew  cJetdeij  in    the  padt,  and  good  widhed  foz   it  J 
continued  ptodpexitij  and  iidefalne^d. 

cJ hey  have   thetefoze  appointed  ad   delegated  to  thid  (sfedcjui- 
centennial  Gelebtation  theix  ttudtg  and  well-beloved  officetd 

Ghatled  William   oliot,  JaJD.  Jj,, 

yeoige  Joincoln  yoodale/  alb.  Jj<,  JoJa,  ^.t 

Srijliet  tLtofcdMi  of  ibatutal  obialory, 

William  ^ameA,  0113,  3) „  ^h.  2),,  £itt.  3)., 

3jxofsidcix  of  JL>M\c\\olog\j, 

and  have  chatged  them  to  conveg  to  the  ^tudteed  and  cj acuity 
the  felicitations  of  the  J=>tedident  and  cTellowdf  and  to  exptedd 
the  confident  hope  and  expectation  that  the  beneficent  influence 
of  Princeton  tbnivetditg  xvill  gtoiv  evet  widet  ad  the  centuzied 
padd,  and  itd  detviced  to  dcience,  lettetd,  and  philodophg  evet  mote 
eminent, 

cJhe  Jotedident  and  tJ'ellowd 

of  cHoatvatd  Gollege  bg 

ijdwatd   \y,  Snooper,  (^cctetaty. 


'O/ic-   iStli  of  Ocloketi  lSp6, 


I    SEAL     j 


208 


[haverford  college] 

J^-eut-ci^u,    e-u     al'e.  t-Ci'tf-e-Jvus-t-     Co-a-ft.uU'Wi^     cuCut^u^e^yK^     (■w^fr^C^«tw--i^,    o^u^t^      v-c-O-t-t^      ij-e^  = 

i' 

JdLClu.^   df^tU.   ji.  B.  MDCCCXCVI. 


209 


[hobart  college] 
PRAESES    PROFESSORESOUE 

CoUegtt  Holjartiani 

PRAESIDI   CURATORIBUS   PROFESSORIBUS 

Collrsii  i^eocaesariensts 

SALUTEM   PLURIMAM   DICUNT 


Magna  nos  voluptate  affecerunt  literae  quibus  nos  ad  ferias  vestras  prox- 
imo Octobri  celebrandas  benigne  et  comiter  vocatis.  Recte  arbitramini, 
Viri  optimi  et  doctissimi,  ferias  illas  quibus  Universitatis  vestrae  vita 
prior  quodammodo  concluditur,  nova  ampliorque  mutato,  ut  par  est, 
nomine  exoritur  et  nobis  et  iis  omnibus  qui  bonis  Uteris  faveant  omni 
observantia  dignas  visum  iri. 

Pergrato  igitur  animo  literis  vestris  acceptis  ad  istas  ferias  unum  de 
nostris  mittere  in  animo  est,  cui  partes  demus  vobis  nostris  verbis  gratu- 
landi.  Huius  nomen,  necnon  quo  tempore  expectandus  sit  alteris  literis 
docebimus.  Vobis  interea  gratulantes  etiam  atque  etiam  gratias  pro 
humanitate  vestra  impensissimas  agimus.  Valete.  Datum  Genevae  in 
Republica  Neo-Eboracensi  prid.  Kal.  Maias  Anno  Salutis  Nostrae 
MDCCCXCVI? 

In  superiorum  literarum  ampliorem  fidem  sigillum  Collegii  Hobartiani 
eis  apponi  jussimus  nostrumque  chirographum  subscripsimus. 

E.  N.  POTTER, 

Praeses. 


210 


[JOHNS   HOPKINS   UNIVERSITY] 

U=>taedidi  ma^nlfico,   (Dutatotloud  iLLudttiddimid , 
Jorofeddoxtbiid  doctiddimid 

(holUgli   I  oeocae^aziendU 

<sf.  ^.  2). 

Lotiivezdttad  Joliiid  cnDopkuid  c/Salu/nozeiwu 


ntniantdjiniad  iittetad  a  vobid  accepimudf  quibud  podt 
centum  et  cjiunquacf'uita  atinod  in  Itoetaltiun  attiiun  dtudiid 
colendid  ptomovendldque  feiiciddune  exactor,  novum  daeculum 
ingtedduti  et  novum  nomen  duinptutif  nod  invitavidtid  ut  died 
XX,  XXI,  XXII  mendid  (Jctobtid  fedtod  vobldcum  concelebta- 
temud, 

QJtaque,  ut  died  tain  faudtod,  eo  quo  pat  edt  honote,  pzo- 
dequamut,  ex  nodtto  otdlne  G^cademtco  Jotaedidem  JJanleiem 
(Doit  yitman,  vituni  iliudttiddimuni,  educatotem  nonotatlddi- 
nium,  atbittuni  ad  tetminod  condtituendod  feliciddtmum,  dele- 
aitnudf  qui  ptaedend  vobid  gtatulandi  munud  obviet  et  vobidcum 
Yota  pto  incolumitate  ptodpetitate  diututnitateque 


Q 


tbiu\ 


vezMtatid  ^zuicetowieadu 


nuncupatet, 

'3)aoamud  doaltitnozae 
die  zlSttmo  mendu  Uumi 
I  S.  MDCCCXCyi 


G.  (yJoozton  (^tewazt, 


I     SEAL     j 


^uzatozuni  tLzaeded, 


211 


[KNOX   college] 

yzaeded  et  Jo>cofeddozed 

(oolieqli  ohnoxendid 

Vizid  cJUiUtciddunid  Jjoctiddlniid 

Jc>zaeMdi  Guzatotibud  J^zofeddozibad 

Q)n  KDoUegio   /oeocaedaziendi  (oommoza ntibud 

(^aiatem  in  Jjotniiio. 


riuitati  comltet  a  itobld,  uitt  illu,)ttiddimi  et  doctld- 
dimif  ad  ftiiendiini  otdinU  nobilid  uedtxi  hojpititim, 
die  anniuetdatii  centedimo  (juinquagedimo  (Doiicgii 
lOeocaedatiendid  conditi,  otamu.i  ut  ^tato  animo  uobid 
gtatiad  ob  konotem  inuitationii  ac/imud  et  tedpondendo  affitme- 
mud  magnae  laetitiae  tiobu  uniim  ex  otdine  nodtto  ut  uobid 
gtatuletut  et  diei  doUemnid  oblectatione  patticepd  dit,  uicatiutn 
deleaciie, 


egc 


Saturn  ^alcibuzijtae 

tn  (Is^ula  (oollcgii 

cH^noxcndtd, 

oJaibud  Sept. 

M.2).  MDCCCXCl^I. 


Ijolianned  cjtb.  (yinleij, 

S^zaeMJ. 

O/iomad  cJlD.   vX^diazd, 

Seczetaziud, 

[     SEAL      I 


212 


[LAFAYETTE   COLLEGE] 


golU^^"'"  '^'^f'^iJ'^ttea^ 


e 


J:Dzaedidi  (oiitatozlbus  atque  J^zofeddozibiid 

SALUTEM 

ytatiad  ptoptet  niimanitatem  uedttatn  tefetented,  atque 
de  illu.itii  (DoLLegli  ibeocaeaaiiendid  anipliftcatione 
tiobidciun  Laetantedf  gzatuiationed  dincetiddimad  uobid 
dignificatntid,  atque  dpetamud  fote  lit  centum  et  cjuin- 
quaginta  annid  diem  magnum  imponattd, 

'^/Oooid  piacuit  J^tacdldeni  nodtruni  (jt/ielbettuni 
^JJ,  vVaxfield  uicatium  deiigete,  qui  hodpltio  uedtto 
utatutf  atque  liooidcum  eo  tenipote  laetetut.  ^Jeud  uod 
amet, 

St/ielbeztud  Jj.    V^azfieLd, 


^ 


raeded. 


213 


[lake  forest  university] 


Zhtaeded  Gutatoted  J^tofeJdoted    Ihnwetditattd  JoacWiivanae 

ytaedidt  (Dutatotwad  J=>tojeddotwud 

S Uudttldditnld  ^Joctiddimid 

(DoUegii  lOeocaedatieiwid 

&aliitein  in  domino. 


GzattMunae,  vizi  clazixiitni,  Uttciae  vcitzac  nobtj  fuezunt,  cotnplettint  nod 
dutntno  gaudio,  3)eo  omnipotenti  vobuciun  gzatiad  agunud,  ^uod  (oollegio 
^fBeocaedatiendi  fundatozcd  inagnanuni  fuezunt  et  pcz  tot  annod  pzaesides 
cuzatozed  ptofedMted  doctidAiini  fioeliMimi  alumni  Ubezaltddtmi  atque  bcne- 
ficenti.iMtni  atnici  dunt  fuezunt, 

^uod  (Sollegiutn  i^eocaeAatteme  dctenttani  huinanitatetn  et  oinncj  azted 
quae  ad  caA  peztinent  coluit  atque  dijjeminavtt,  quibud  patzia  et  eccledia 
fuezunt  Aunt  ezunt  beatae,  pzaedezttm  cum  noAtza  HhnivezAitaA  JbactAuvana 
e  numezo  eiuA  aluninozum  duo  pzacAideA  vtzoA  konozatiddimoA,  nunnulloA 
cutatozeA  munificentidAimoA,  ezudiAAimoA  pzofeAdozeA  cooptaveztt,  S)euA 
dempez  cldem  concedat,  ut  HbnivezAitaA  tSzincetonienAtA  quae  tam  (Sollegio 
IfBeocaeAazienAi  Auccedet  aucta  poAAeAAionibuA  occaAtontbuA  maiuA  etiam  et 
meliuA  opuA  pzo  bono  publico  ad  matozem  S)et  gloziam  efftctat,  pluztmum 
valeat,  tn  Aacculo  Aaeculozum  flozeat, 

Salve  H^hnivezAitaA  ihzincetontenAtA. 

(Byzum  &Gall  c)V3c(jozmick,  '3)avida  cBcnton  SoneA  e  cuzatozibuA  noAiziA 
vicazioA  delegimuA  qui,  3)co  volcntc,  tpAi  ptaeAenteA  noAtiaA  gtatulationeA 
fezant. 

S)atum  JjaciAilvae  SlltnenAtA  zhtaeAeA, 

die  viceAim-o  (^eptembziA 
Sd,.(S^.  M.D.CCC.XC.  VI. 


'3 


[     SEAL      I 

214 


[  LICK  OBSERVATORY  ] 

University  of  California, 

Mount  Hamilton,  October  20,  1896. 

1 746- 1 896. 

The  Astronomers  of  The  Lick  Observatory  of  The 
University  of  California  offer  their  congratulations  upon 
the  completion  of  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  year  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey;  and  express  their  warmest  hopes 
for  Princeton  University  in  the  centuries  to  come.  "The 
best  of  prophets  of  the   Future  is  the  Past." 

Edward  S.  Holden, 
j.  m.  scharberle, 
W.  W.  Campbell, 
R.  H.  Tucker, 
W.  J.  HUSSEY, 
A.   L.   COLTON, 

C.  D.  Perrine, 

R.   G.  AlTKEN. 


215 


[Mccormick  theological  seminary] 

Hcabeiniae  ^beologicae  ni>cConnicen8i8 

cA'-a£d'i--a-t  ^u4.€i-€'(iU'^-iM  Cri€>Jedd^4.^^ud.  Cy-t^dM^i^ddi-'n^^d.  y^-£>C'Udd'i,'j^'id- 

Salutem  in  Domino. 

^fyMi'Cc  'H'C'-'t^M  ■^eitZ'i't-aU'7^^  £d,de  ^'u/e'7-ftud^  -^u^fi  ■ua-i^id 


'tM-'i€?-Ui'nt    ■i4€Ud-li<dd-c^'Z-c>4.U'^n.    'Cum   ^-n    JiM-i^aU-tz    oc'-^^^a^'i. 


^Aedl'U  -iu^m  ^14^  AMi-at-i-fi  n^^lUtze  ^n-ad'H'eie  €-€?-^'U4€£-fZl  ^f^^w 
■^-iU'l-u^-m.U'i.    c^^c€^'^-n-ad'C-e'nlt^d  -mu/t-c^iU'm  ^ndt-tlu/c^  lu-m 

/u€<i4.&  A4&Aiei  e^^iu-^n  'tir/.-u-o^ied^  AtZ'i-i./el  4A€!-p-'id'C-U'm  -t-n-  ne^e^ic^ 

Cy'(t€-^'i'C-^    -Una   d/^u-t-^^    c^ud.-o    ■gi€'t^    e/  'n-fx-u^:^  -t^^i^u-n'Ce 
4/-€:^-^€d  A'tU'U^'n€i-'/^  d-a-'/u/e^^'i-  €it-c€^€ed  ^i'd'mud  U€  ^'i.'UMt-et 


ITlnivevsitatis  Iptincctoniensis 

'^t/gi'm  -c/iZ^^iM-  'G.u-tZ'^^  'H-a-t-t-c^ied  '-^-a-^^-a^i-  C/^c>-cr7£<i-a-Ue'ptdM 


G^u-^udl-uyj  (q/.   '--Wtztuei^  y^i2yiA-t,-(/  '-W .  O^^'^^'UM^ 


Scriba.  Pracscs  pro  anno  Facnltatis. 

216 


[  MASSACHUSETTS    INSTTrUTE   OF  TECHNOLOGY  ] 

3Jnstitute  of  Cecfjnologg 

The  Faculty  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  offer  to  the 
5^rc^iDciit,  aTriL^tcc!^  and  the  |pcofcj3?oc!S  of  ^rtitfcton  llmbnr^itp  their 
heartfelt  congratulations  at  the  establishment  of  the  5lni\JCti9!itp  upon 
the  broad  and  firm  foundation  laid  in  the  noble  work  done  by  the 
College  of  |i5cU)  ^Icrscji  during  the  past  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  in 
5firti^,  €i)COiogp  and  ^ficilCC,  and  in  much  honorable  and  useful  service 

to  the  ilcpu&lic.    |)cncc  and  ^^roiSpcHtiJ  to  |t)rinfcton. 


Francis  A.  Walker 
John  D.  Runkle 
Geo.  a.  Osborne 
Robert  H.  Richards 
F.  W.  Chandler 
Wm.  T.  Sedgwick 
E.  B.  Homer 
Wm.  H.  Lawrence 
Alphonse  N.vanDaell 
Webster  Wells 
Joseph  J.  Skinner 
Charles  F.  A.  Currier 
Wm.  H.  Niles 
Henry  P.  Talbot 
Jerome  Sondericker 
Thomas  E.  Pope 
H.  O.  Hofman 
George  F.  Swain 
Edw.  F.  Miller 


Dana  P.  Bartlett 
Allyne  L.  Merrill 
Fred  A.  Bardwell 
Arlo  Bates 
Wm.  L.  Puffer 
Theodore  Hough 
John  Bigelow,  Jr, 
Augustus  H.  Gill 
Frederick  S.  Woods 
Gaetano  Lanza 
Chas.  R.  Cross 
Frank  Vogel 
Robert  P.  Bigelow 
Richard  W.  Lodge 
Willis  R.  Whitney 
Frederick  H.  Bailey 
Charles  L.  Adams 
G.  Russell  Lincoln 
G.  Theodore  Dippold 

[     SEAL     ] 

217 


Leonard  M.  Passano 
William  Z.  Ripley 
Cecil  H.  Peabody 
Arthur  A.  Noyes 
N.  Richard  George 
Frank  H.  Thorp 
John  W.  Smith 
S.  H.  Woodbridge 
C.  Frank  Allen 
Alfred  E.  Burton 
Linus  Faunce 
J.  Blackstein 
William  A.  Johnston 
Charles  E.  Fuller 
George  W.  Hamblet 
George  H.  Barton 
Henry  M,  Goodwin 
Harry  W.  Tyler 
Henry  K.  Burrison 


[MASSACHUSETTS   INSTITUTE    OF   TECHNOLOGY] 


MASSACHUSETTS 
INSTITUTE  OF  TECHNOLOGY 


Boston, 


Iptil    f^,         1S96. 


(oke  Gotpotatioii  and  c/'acultt/  of  the  SHoaddackwiettd 
QJndtitute  of  uechnolo^tj  conc/ratulate  the  (botpotation,  the 
Jotedideiitf  the  cfacultij  and  the  (?Ttudentd  of  the  (boUege  of 
ibew  Metdey  upon  the  approach  of  the  one  hundred  and 
fiftieth  annwetdaty  of  the  college ,  and  upon  the  wide  decidion 
to  tecognize  the  ptopez  condtituentd  of  a  univetditg  in  itd  patioiid 
depatttnentd  and  achoold,  dome  of  them  long  ctowned  with  honot 
and  condectated  bg  eminent  detviced  to  (Srtate  and  Ibation  and 
to  the  latget  (commonwealth  of  Joeatning ,  while  the  goungedt 
ha.i  yielded  zich  ftuit  to  science  and  the  indtidttial  attd,  o^ 
delegate  ftom  the  QJndtitute  of  (Oechnologg  will  attend  the  cele- 
otation  of  Uctobex  2  2i),  and  join  in  the  congtatulationd  of 
the  wotld  of  dcholatd  upon  the  tide  of  ^tinceton    thnivetdity, 

cjzaiicid  cS).   Walkez, 

J^zedident. 

©ohazzy    vv.   Oyiez, 
Seczetazy. 


218 


[  UNIVERSITY   OF   MISSOURI  ] 


©Iniber0itati0  0li^^onvimm 

3^xmqM  Cuvatoritms  ^^rofessonbus  Collestt 

i^eo^Caesareae 

alutem. 


2Iol3t0  quot)  re0  at)  Itttera^  ct  jsctentiam  ^pectantejs  tarn 
egrcgta^  ge^^i^ti^  gratulante0  gauDcmug!  tio0  pro  pro^pcntate 
per  centum  quinquagmta  annojs  perDucta  Dignitatem  ab  ilia 
mor)e0ti00ima  iam  non  contemcnti  Collegii  aD  beram  ^xlU 
\)erfiitatis  ^rtncetouiae  appellationcm  conterjsuro^. 
3itaque  ut  ipfiz  Ijonorejs  Dicat  et  fe^to  tempore  collaetetur 
^rae^iDem  nostrum  ijirum  Ulu^trtis^imum  l^icattiutn 

^enricum  Sfesse  ncgabmnt!^. 

€x  ^tula  acaDemtca 
3lD.  apai.  anno  ^aluti^  mDcccjrcbi. 


219 


[university    of   NEBRASKA] 

Gancellaiiu.i  cjoectozed  Jozofcddoied 

Vniiiei.Htatid   ibebzadkcndld 

Vitid  dlludtziddimid  JjoctU,slmis 

JcfZaedldi  et  JorofeddOiitnid 

Sn  (bolicqio   fheocaedaiiendi  (oommozantihuA 

Qralutein  in  Jjoiiiino. 

AiiiceUatiua  oJoectoted  J^tofeddoteA  Vniuetditatid  lOebtad- 
kendid  inuitati  a  potedtatibiid  Gollc^ii  tueocaedazietiaid 
lit  ex  duo  otaine  acaaemico  aliquem  aeiicjant  uicatiuin  ad 
celebtandum  diem  anniuetdatiuni  (DoUegii  /Oeocaedatiendid 
centendinium  quinquagetiditnum,  eiddetn  ainceze  gtatiod  agunt, 
(DolLcjiian  uetud  noneatumcjue  de  teoud  decundia  ex  animo 
gtatulamut,  memoted  cum  m,ultotutn  et  etuditotum  uitotutn 
tei  publicae  <S^m,ezicanae  datoxutn  turn  acceddionid  dcientiae  in 
teano  Uttetaziim. ,  oln  dignuni  dtudii  yeotgium  Sduinum. 
c/JoacJjean  hiiiud  yniiiexditatid  (DanceUatium  iicatium,  nod- 
tium.  delegim.ud  in  ceiebtanda  doLenini  inaugutatione  Vniuez- 
ditati.)  Jiytincetoniendid  die  uicendimo  decundo  mendid  Uctobtid 
anno  niillendimo  octingentendinio  nonagendimo  dexto, 

J^.  C2^.  (^Iiezrnaii, 

3)atutn  Jj>uicolnen.H  3)ecantu. 

tn  (S^ula  'Vniuetditatid  /^    ^ 

die  txicemimo  dunii  (  s^^*-   ) 

SB,,  ^,  MDcccxcvi.  V y 


220 


[college    of   the   city    of   new   YORK] 

Joiacdcs  et  (^enatud  Q^cadcmicud 

(boUegti   vzbani  I beo-CDboiaceiidU 

yield  dUadtiiddiiniid  Jjoctidduniid 

Jotaedidi  GtiTatozibud  JoiofeAdOcibud 

(ooiiccj  a   I  be  0  -ioacda  ziendid 

(sf.  S.  2). 

^aecuLaxed  fetiad  tite  celebtantibud  vobid  tola  mente 
cjtatulamut.  (S^lmam  c)TGatzem  ibeo-Gaedazien- 
deni,  a  aoctiddiniid  vitid  indtltatam,  denipet  validid- 
duniid  xnxibiid  atted  Itbezaled  coliiidde  tieminl  edt 
i^notutn,  Joimitni  ex  ue^tzid  doctotibud  ciatuetunt  fautoted 
niudatum,  dapietitiae,  dcicntiaturti.  Jjn  tala  fadtod  tedpict- 
ented  itite  laetamini ;  laze  etiatn  ad  atnpUozed  vocatl  lionoted 
et  dignitatem,  cetetod  zcbud  acadeinicid  ptaefectoj,  ut  laetentttt 
vobidcum  atcedaitid.  ^Qiae  cum  ita  dint,  lubentet  leaabimud 
qui  illid  faudtid  fedtidque  diebiid  vobid  addit,  et  adfetat  QX.a- 
tuiationed,        yaLeatid,  jLoieatid, 

cSjicxandex  (^,^K\\bb,  ££.2). 

2)atum  ^bco-Sbotaci  Szaeded, 

in  aula  no.itza  G^cademtca 

9boni.i  Dlbaitd 
anno  poit  (jlizi.ituni  natum, 
nulleMimp  octinqcnte.iuino  nonac/CJumo  .icxto. 

[     SEAL     ) 

221 


[new  YORK   UNIVERSITY] 

Cancellarius  Concilium  Curatorum  Professoresque  Uni- 
versitatis  Neo-Eboracensis  viros  illustrissimos  et  doctissimos 
Praesidem  Ciiratores  Professores  Colleeii  Neocaesariensis  in 
Deo  salvere  iubemus. 

Vos  cum  petieritis  a  nobis  rem  iucundam,  nempe  ut  legemus 
aliquem  virum  ex  numero  nostrorum  qui  adsit  in  diebus  festis 
quibus  vos  rite  celebretis  confectum  lustrum  trigesimum  Collegii 
Neo-Caesariensiset  intersit  auspiciis  Universitatis  Princetoniensis 
a.  d.  XI  Kal.  Novembres  huius  anni,  gratis  animis  accipimus 
munus  quod  vos  nobis  praebetis.  Una  vobiscum  laetamur  propter 
dies  festos  qui  instant  et  legamus  Cancellarium  Henricum  Mit- 
chell MacCracken  qui  nostro  loco  illis  diebus  vobis  intersit. 

In  Universitate  Neo-Eboracensi 

Nonis  Iiiliis  MDCCCLXXXXVI. 

CHARLES  BUTLER,  Praeses. 
ISRAEL  C.  PIERSON,   Secretarius. 


222 


[northwestern  university] 


[      SEAL      j 


Zo  the  pvcsibctit,  ^Trustees,  anb  Jfacult^  of  tbe 

College  of  IRevv  Jersey, 


GREETING: 

^  ^  ^  mbe  Bacult^  of  X^ottbvvestern  ttntvcvsit)^ 

have  had  the  honoz  to  receive  the  official  coinnianication  invdtng  them  to  dend  a  dele- 
gate to  tepzcient  the  ^hniverdiiy  at  the  Scdquicentennial  (Sclebration  of  the  (Bollege  of 
9l5ew  ^ezdey. 

'^hey  cozdialli/  accept  the  invitation  and  take  pleaMize  tn  pzaenttncj  aJ  theiz  dele- 
gate ^zedident  06enzif  l^^ade  ffhogezd,  accredited  from  thid  Ibnivezdity  ad  the  bearer 
of  itd  tedpectfid  gzectingd  and  congzatidatiom, 

'^he  'ibnivezdity  i.i  glad  by  itd  delegated  presence  to  have  a  dhare  in  a  fedtival  cele- 
bzatinq  the  completion  of  a  hundzed  and  fifty  yeard  of  the  life  of  a  venerable  indtitutwn 
of  &hristian  learning  whode  growth  had  been  pazt  of  the  pzogzeM  of  ouz  land,  and 
whode  prodperity  had  boznc  fruit  in  the  advancement  of  every  noble  caude. 

'^ke  cfaculty  Join  with  their  congzatulationd  the  fervent  widk  tkat  tke  favoz  of 
BSeaven  may  continue  to  abide  witk  tke  (oollege  in  the  centuzied  to  come,  and  that  the 
new  name,  princCtOU  XHuiVCrsit^,  rivalling  tke  konozd  of  the  old,  may  grow  ever 
brighter  in  merited  renown. 


IKlortbwestern  xaniversits, 

jEvangton,  UlUnolg, 

September  22,  1896. 


yeotge  a^.   hoe, 

Secretary  of  tke  d'aculty, 

College  of  J^ibezat  <S3ytti. 


223 


[  UNIVERSITY    OF   PENNSYLVANIA  ] 

praefectue  Curatores  profcssoree 

XHnipersltatis  Ip^eiins^lvaniensis 

l^iri0  Clarissimie  Doctissintis 
praesibi  Curatoribue  profcssoribus 

Collcou  Bcocaesaiiensis 

Salutem 

CHuob  per  lltteras  nuper  receptas  certiores  fact!  sumus  vtri 
clarissimi  boctisslmi  vos  in  mente  habere  incuse  ©ctobrt  proximo 
teriis  saeculartbus  per  triCuunt  baben&is  fun&ationem  Collegii  lHeo= 
caesarlensis  celebrare  nxemoriam  virorum  illustrissimoruni  qui  i>c 
CoUeoio  vestro  beque  univ>ersa  patria  nostra  partim  &ouis  5auC)is 
partim  scientia  promov>en5a  juveututeque  Hniericana  in  I)octrinam 
virtuteni  religionem  iustrueuC>a  bene  meriti  siut  piissime  reuovare 
eo&etu  auteni  tempore  institutioneni  xauiversitatis  ipriucetouieusis 
e  fuuDanientis  Gollecjii  IWeocaesariensis  tot  tantisque  laboribus 
flrmatis  tunc  tanquani  uovi  pboenicis  e  patris  cineribus  nascenCtae 
rite  facere  iC)  nos  sumnio  flauC»io  affieit  permovetque  ut  laetitiam 
quam  sentinius  niajiniani  vobis  significemus  &eque  factis  praeteritis 
spleu&ibis  gratulationes  pro  futuris  ut  et  splen&i&iora  fiant  vota 
faciamus. 

Ibis  &e  causis  bas  litteras  scribeu5as  curavimus  et  v>irum  insignem 
praefectutn  nostrum  Carolum  Custis  Ifjarrison  letjatum  constituimus 
qui  vobis  gratulationes  nostras  votaque  perferat. 

flu  cuius  rei  testimonium  sicjillum  XHnivcrsitatis  curatores  ejus^cm 
apponi  jusserunt. 

[     SEAL     j 


224 


[PENNSYLVANIA    COLLEGE] 

Pennsylvania  College, 
Gettysburg,  Penna.,  March  29,  1896. 

The  President,  Trustees  and  Faculty  of  Pennsylvania  College 
beg  to  gratefully  acknowledge  the  honor  of  an  invitation  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  celebration  of  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  the  founding  of  Princeton  University,  and  to  extend 
their  Christian  greetings  and  hearty  congratulations  to  the  Presi- 
dent, Trustees  and  Faculty  of  the  University.  They  recognize  in 
Princeton,  not  only  one  of  the  oldest,  but  also  one  of  the  foremost 
and  best  of  American  Universities,  whose  progress,  conjoined  with 
a  wise  conservatism,  has  cordially  recognized  what  is  good  in  the 
old  and  carried  it  on  into  the  new,  in  curricula  and  methods  meet- 
ing modern  demands  without  sacrificing  the  best  results  of  past 
educational  experience,  and  whose  influence  upon  the  Christian 
higher  education  of  this  country  has  been  most  wide-reaching, 
inspiring  and  helpful. 

With  earnest  wishes  for  the  success  of  the  Anniversary  occa- 
sion and  for  the  future  of  Princeton, 

Very  truly  yours, 

H.  W.   McKnight,  Prest. 


225 


[  PRINCETON    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY  ] 

Cofl'cgti  Stcocac^cm-e'Hoio 
SaCttt'e-vn.  in  ^ovuivto. 

Sltterae  -uci>tz^a(2,  a>i  ri  ciaziiyvn^l  ^^atzcAcme  be^ectioii-Hi^i,  yuvH'i^o 
aaiiblo  iio^  covvtpCeuci^ui'vt  pzae:>ei:^tti4v  cunx  i>c^oi<x  wo^iza  v<i:>\znnx- 
cjiie  coffegiii-rvv  ("anv  •ueteze  auiiciWa  conutncta  aint".  '^^oGbciuu 
q^aita^  aclinlUi^  *2)co  ovwvtipoleuH  Gciicfacici^tti,  Qui  in  principio 
Coffcgii  Srcocac.^arieii^i^  -oiro^  iffo^  -magnatviMtoct  p-toDib(^tl-te;^ 
'2)ic^i^i)v:>ou,  Sctiitr,  Xewv&czlotv,  2!ietiovv,  fti-n-batei^ca  a>ocauit'  cbu-ca- 
i>itc|.t-i.c ;  Qui-  i->v  ce-H/tu-t-M-  c^w-l^Cj^i.taglvvta  a)iiii.>,  afii:>  ctbucr^i>  afii:i 
fai;ei^iti^ti2>  pcz^  -faGotca  ivtagi^tzo-riittv  fibeCiu.^n  alcjiie  boctoi^u-Hi  boc- 
li^^i1^to^l^^t  ivacnoin^  pci^  bona  pat'zonoriinv  ntuniFicormn,  ei  -uize^ 
:>ii||^ecit  •tt-t  ^clentiai-vi-  fuinianitalenvcjiie  cofeiv;>  eFocberat'a:>  oHc^piiG- 
fica-A  bcf'cttbcn^  Scc-CeMain  GiVriati  anta-no  ct  Ati^vayio  boniini  mag- 
^ttmi  cifgiie  rnij^ci&ifc  a  ^co  ab  fioniinc^,  ac  ucro  c^l',  uiMiin  Mi; 
Qui  fta:>  o»nnc^>  -rc^  ciecnnbao  -fa-tgilii^,  iviinc  nouo  :>acculo  in^tant■c, 
guci^i  boleni  a  pal'ze  a»iiaivt'c,  ci  aiicta^  po:>5e;3^ionc^  occaMoyic:>c^uc 
ct  Mova  juta  pzaefcet  cuvm  in  fincni  tit"  &ccicMa  ct  ^attia  ciH>  pet; 
viaozcvii  •uigeaivt. 

Sic  iic-j^u-in-  i-J44pCetinvt  c^t  iffub  'JDomini  uct&unt  niancn^  i-n 
aetci^n-tivn-  :  Suntea  ifear^t  ct'  ffcGavrt"  ^-nUtenlca  actnina  Mict.  '^''cni- 
evitcA  anicni  ueviieivt  cwin  ccciu^tattone  pottavvtes  inanipi/tiois  i>no^. 
&zao  ^>oi>i»cu^'n  '^cu^yn  i<xuh<xnvtv:>.     &zao  h'tcinvu^  : 

^rae^ibcni  factiftati^  (Svi-ifctmtn-n-  cICe-M-'ti-cit-n'V  Szccn  uicattti-vii 
wo^ix-iAwi  bcicgai4tii<>,  gtit,  ^eo  -uofe-nte,  'HOd-txa^  gzattvCaticned  ^czai. 

^al'nm    tPri-nceloniae 
i-n  O-ta-to  t  i  o  Scf I  o  Ca  G  'Is  fx  c  o  f eg  i  a  c        G 1 1  iin  i^^  vnc>  eKc  1 1  r  i  c  1 1  ^  tj  r  c  c  n , 
ble  wo-no  91lail  St.  S.  M  DCCC  XC  VI  ^ac^e^  eFacnfta ti.>. 

GeczPvaxb iii>  ''^Do^,  tlC»  epi5to^ii>. 

226 


[RUTGERS   college] 

PRAESES   CURATORES    PROFESSORES 

COLLEGII    RUTGERSENSIS 

IN    NOVA    CAESAREA 

Magistris  Universitatis  Princetoniensis  Doctissimis  lustaque 
Ex  Causa  Illustrissimis 

S.  D. 

QUAM  PRIMUM  post  feshim  Academiae  vestrae 
diem  tarn  bene  faitsteqiie  celebratnin  coiigregati 

QUOD  Acadeiiiia  vestra  per  aiinos  CL  Collegiiun 
Neocaesariense  nnncupata  summarum  scientiae  rernm 
stitdiiini  diviuarum  necnon  hmnanaruin  semper  optima 
accuratissime  fovebat 

QUOMQUE  ista  Academia  Universitatis  Jwdiernam 
Princetoniensis  appellationem  una  cum  officiis  maioribus 
ilia  die  festo  sibi  ritu  adrogasset 

VOBIS  Amicis  amicissimi  gratulabamur  gratiilamur 
sincerajnque  spent  nostram  vcstram  Utiiversitatem  Prince- 
toniensem  studiosi  suum  desiderii  atque  laboris  scholastici 
quasi  agrum  qttendam  qui  accessionibus  continuis  se  dila- 
tat  atque  extendet  Optimo  cum  qucestu  culturatn  esse  ver- 
bis exprimere  vellemus. 

AUSTIN   SCOTT, 

HAEC  spei  atque  gratulationis  Praeses. 

cnuntiatio  est  scripta  ct  data  Novi 
Brunsvici  in  Nova  Caesarea  II 
Non.  Nov.  MDCCCXCVI. 


227 


[southwestern    PRESBYTERIAN    UNIVERSITY] 

(oancetiazLud  et  ^zofeddozed 

IhniiieiMtatld  Jazedbytezla na e 

iuxta  (olazhdvUle 

Ihlzu  QjlludtzidMmi^  Jjoctiddlniid 

J^Dzae.Hcli  Guzatozibud  Jozofeddozibud 

QJn  (ooUeqlo   I beocaedazietidi  Gommozantibud 

(^aluteni  in  Jjoinlno. 

c^iod  ad  daeculated  fetiad   uocati  dutnud,   quo   tempote  et 

Lhntiietditad   J^iuicetoniendid  Inaa^utabitut,  c/tatiaj   a^i/nud, 

atcjiie  nodtuim   coiiegain  Jjacobuni  a^.  Js>xjon,   alutnnuni   (doL- 

ie^il  iiedtti  eandemque  a  iLobU  ^Joctoxem  J:>kiloMphiae  cteaturrif 

leacituni  deleglinud, 

Saturn  in  uzhe  (Dlatliduulien..it  /O  .  ^ 

J.     .      ayj   ■!■  ueozqtiu  &ufntney, 

die  piimo  Q/j^ptilid  cJ        c/  cJ 

SS,.'^.  MDCccxcvi.  Gancellattud, 

ucozcjluA  CJ.    Ibicoiadden, 

^cziba. 


228 


[  SWARTHMORE   COLLEGE  ] 

U^zaeded  et  Jocofeddoied 

in  GoUegio  (^waitlimozietui  conimozanted 

^laejidi,  CiuzatocibuJ,  Jjzofed^oziluid 

Gollegii   foovae  (oaesaiiendid 

vizis  doctiddimid  atque  illudtzidMinid 

^.  &  2). 

Palde  gaudemudf  viti  doct'iddlmi  et  lUudttidditnif  quod  a 
voln.)  vocamut  ad  fetlad  daecuiated  die  annivetdauo  centedimo 
cjuitiquacfeduno  podt  conditain  vedttatn  iinivezditatem,  hoc  edt 
die  viceditno  decundo  nic/wid  Uctohtid  anno  iatn  ttan^eunte, 
Js lincetoiiiae  liabenda.) , 

H-^icaxium  delcgimuJ  J=>xae.^idem  iio.itzam,  ibaxolum  Jje 
yarinOf  jDliilodophiae  ^octotem,  qui  iiliud  diei  gtatuiationibua 
intetdit  et  ptaedetid  vobi^  diariificationi  dit  nodttae  diunmae  etga 
vod  voluntati), 

ffezzid    vV.  S^zice, 

3)atum  (^waxihmoziae,  Scziba  (pto  tempore), 

die  quinto  eJutiii  6tdinid  S^cadeniici  Swazthm. 


A.  D.  MDCCCXCyi. 


229 


[  SYRACUSE    UNIVERSITY  ] 

Cancellarius  et   Professores 

Universitatis  Syracusanae 

Praesidi   Curatoribiis  Professoribusque 

Collegii  Neocaesarie?isis 

Salutem 

"W'^^crgratiim  est  quod  nos  per  littei-as  elegajitissimas  tanta  comitate 

m^M   invitastis  ut  ununi  a/iqiiew  ex  nostra  ordine  acadejnico  deligaf?ius 

m  vicar'mm  qui  hospitio  iisns  vestro  vobiscum  spatio  annoruDi  cen- 

.M^  turn   quinquaginta  finito   laetetur.      Scitote,  viri  doctissii/ii,  nos 

vtrum  idoneiwi  qui  praesens  sit  particeps  gaudii  vestri  libejiter  esse  delecturos. 

Vobis  vehementer  gratulamur  de  tot  annis  Deo  generique  hominum  dedicatis 

m  qiiibus  etiam  banc  civitatem  constitutam  anteceditis.   ^juod  quanta  o^cium 

fuit  dijjicile  aestimare,  nam  Collegium  Neacaesariense  cuius  trice sitnumfesti- 

nat  aetas  claudere  lustrum,  perpetua  fans  doctrinae  artiumque  aptimarum 

atque  ?noru?n  exe?nplar  nan  7nado  reipublicae  in  qua  conditum  sed  omnibus 

partibus  arbis  novi  erat.      Vestrum  iam  habetJius  unu?n  ex  institutis  nostrae 

patriae  maximis  et  precamur  idem  felicius  utiliusquc  in  posterum  sit.    Nobis 

ofnmbus  qui  pro  disci plina  nitamur  est  uniim  propositum  ut  liomines  meliores 

excultioresque  faciamus.     Optimus  quisque  collegium  quod  veritatem  colat  et 

quot   annis  maius  liber aliusque  fiat  atque  fidem  faciat  se  etiam  secundius 

fare  laete  contemplatjir. 

JJniversitas  Syracusana  quae  spatium  annorum  quinque  et  viginti  max 
perjictet  et  anno  insequenti  ferias  celebrabit  Collegium  Neacaesariense  iam 
quinquie?is  aeva  functum  honorificis  verbis  prosequitur  et  eadem  tempore 
salutat  JJniversitatem  Princetoniensem  brevi  rite  faciendam  quae  velut  sol 
'^aliusque  et  idem"  nascetur. 

Datae  Kal.  Mai.  MDCCCXCVI. 
Syracusis  in  Rep.  Nov.  Ebor. 

jfacobus   R.  Day, 

Cancellarius. 

230 


[trinity   college,  CONNECTICUT] 

GTei.-a'tei'tu-i-n.    i^a-u-cd    /-ectd-iul^   ui'U   ■t-t-^ud'i'iuid-i-mc-    <g-i    ■^a^t^-a.'La.'ftkdi.-mtj    ■a,u<i,ci.    i^oti 

■ii-ad-a.u.e  ^i  uo^tdcu'H^   ^te^uttd  A.tii  tZ'tti^iu-e-id-eincd.   ■Ca.e^e't^i^'t  ■t'yi,'M^i^€a'l&   tZi^^n^t'Ct 

O't'U^'m   t>e'Cie^-t€C'€iiifi   iX'U    -ted    ti'n.'i^t-d.  ^i.'tae'^e'tt'Cid    -^e-?4fi   ei^  da^^t^-yi'Let    ned^tid    ti-u 

^t.tce'yiie.'t    d/Le-t-a-i^^ud  j^-ie     tt-t    ^io.'Ptde^a^Ma/Cti'l     ^(/•ttt^u.^'Ui-t^ad    (^■it/i^ce^iii'n-t^'ndtd. 
^i-u-Kt    i^ikod   -t/ciiiid    ■ieco-i.c^a/yi'i^vud   i/yi,    tiu^id    n^d'i'l-cd    ■un'naUi'm    <i-l^CiM'm   -ynti^ 

^iyii-U^tc^€-  •2ie^«  ■t'l^d'idHc^od  e^d6<^t^-'yi.'Ced  -Ccce't  -cd-e-i^e-i-e  -Cocei  ■^-yiii-d'ia  dtcm.'tn.'t. 
■not^o-ttd.  €■€  tti't.'Ci^a'Ctd.  -yyieixc-ynae  ■o.-ut-'mi^itA  ^■Ci't^eie  ■tz^^c^tddfifi'ae  i/yia'^-id. 
■u^didae  dede-dua'i-t:      drezzi-i  ^^eud  'U^'neit'a'Ce-n'ttddt.'mtid  a^  ■Q.€luc^l■u■y^^  ti-i-t-nodwyn 


/ 


u.O'tAt^d^u^  mi.tz^d'ed^td  dt^'Ti-t^pic^-i^ -a^tteC-tiz  ■a-t-a/iu^Cti'i^^a'ned  d^i^d  'yi-ad'Cd'Od.       ^{yitd-at^e 


Wd'tjiii'lc^t-eie  i'l^Cy^eA^-d^c^,  ^^u-n^: 


■yie^-t 


231 


[union  university] 


Praeses  Professores  Universitatis  Concordiae  Viris  Illustris- 
simis  Doctissimis  Praesidi  et  Curatoribus  et  Professoribus 
Collegii  Neocaesariensis  Salutem  in  Domino. 

Cum  gratulationibus  plurimis  de  centum  et  quinquaginta 
tam  honorate  et  utiliter  actis  annis,  summaque  spe  de  saeculo 
novo  in  quem  jam  ingressuri  sitis,  placuit  nobis  vestram  invi- 
tationem  ut  die  vicesimo  secundo  mensis  Octobris  anno  currente 
hospitio  vestro  aliquo  ex  nostro  ordine  academico  legato  utemur 
accipere  et  Praesidem  nostrum  Andrew  Van  Vranken  Raymond 
delegare,  qui  eo  tempore  vicarius  noster  apud  vos  fuerit. 

Datum  Schenectadiae, 
a.  d.  XI.  Kal.  Aug.  MDCCCXCVI. 


232 


[united  states  military  academy] 

Headquarters  U.  S.  Military  Academy, 

West  Point,  N.  Y.,  May  i,  1896. 

The  Superintendent  and  Professors  of  the  United  States  Military 
Academy,  to  the  President,  Trustees  and  Professors  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey. 

Gentlemen  : 

We  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  invitation  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  to  select  one  of  our  members  to  represent 
the  United  States  Military  Academy  at  the  one  hundred  and 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  said  College  on  the  22d 
day  of  October,  1896,  and  to  express  our  high  appreciation  of 
the  courteous  remembrance. 

Colonel  Peter  S.  Michie,  Professor  of  Natural  and  Experi- 
mental Philosophy,  the  Senior  Professor  at  the  United  States 
Military  Academy,  has  been  selected  as  the  representative  of 
the   Academic   Board  to  be  present  on   the  aforesaid  occasion. 

We  also  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  convey  our 
best  wishes  for  the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  the  honored  and 
venerable  College  of  New  Jersey,  and  to  express  our  conviction 
that,  under  its  new  name  of  the  University  of  Princeton,  it  will 
be  in  the  future,  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  one  of  the  justly 
distinguished  institutions  of  learning  of  our  country. 

O.  W.  ERNST, 

Colonel  of  Engineers, 

Supt.  U.  S.  Military  Academy, 

President  of  Academic  Board. 


233 


[  UNITED    STATES   NAVAL   ACADEMY  ] 


United  States  Naval  Academy, 
Annapolis,  Maryland, 

October  14th,  1896. 

Sir  : 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  announce- 
ment of  the  President,  Trustees  and  Professors  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  that  during  this  present  month  of  October, 
1896,  there  will  be  instituted  a  festival  to  terminate  on  the 
one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  day  of  the  establishment 
of  that  renowned  College. 

It  becomes  my  duty  also  to  state  on  the  part  of  the  Academic 
Staff  of  this  institution  that  we  appreciate  the  honor  of  an  invi- 
tation to  send  a  delegate  as  a  guest  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  to   take   part   in  the  formal  and  solemn  inauguration  of 

PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY 

and,    if  it  be  possible,  a  delegate  will  be  selected  whose  name 
will  hereafter  be  made  known  to  you  in  writing. 
Very  respectfully, 

P.  H.  COOPER, 

Captain,  U.  S.  Navy, 
To  Superintendent. 

Francis  L.  Patton,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey, 
Princeton,  New  Jersey. 


234 


[VANDERBILT    UNIVERSITY] 

SENATUS  ACADEMICUS 

UNIVERSITATIS   VANDERBILTIAE 

PRAESIDI   CURATORIBUS    PROFESSORIBUS 

COLLEGll  NEOCAESARIENSIS 

SALUTEM. 

Pergratae  nobis  litterae  perlatae  sunt  quibus  nuntiatis  vos,  viri 
doctissimi,  ferias  saeculares  in  honorem  eorum  qui  vestram  Univer- 
sitatem  condiderunt  instituisse.  Profecto  decet  eorum  virorum  illus- 
trissimorum  memoriam  amore  fideli  conservare  et  sacram  tenere  qui 
templum  artium  liberalium  apud  vos  struxerunt  et  omnia  studia  fove- 
runt.  Optimo  quoque  iure  censuistis  et  nobis  et  aliis  quibus  doctrina 
scientiaque  curae  sunt  dandam  esse  partem  in  hoc  die  festo.  Gratias 
ergo  maximas  agimus  quod  nos  dignos  liabuistis  qui  ad  has  ferias 
vobiscum  celebrandas  invitemur,  atque  unum  ex  nostris  Professoribus, 
GuHelmum  L.  Dudley,  libentissime  elegimus  qui  et  testis  sit  nostrae 
erga  vos  benevolentiae  et  particeps  vestri  gaudii.  Fraterno  animo 
vos  salvere  iubemus,  sperantes  fore  ut  Universitas  Princetoniensis 
multa  in  saecula  duret  et  floreat.     Valete. 

JACOBUS   H.  KIRKLAND, 

Cancellarius. 
D.  Nashvillae,  die  XXV  Septembris, 
Anno  MDCCCXCVI. 


235 


tay 


[  UNIVERSITY    OF    VERMONT  ] 

^nit)er0itati0  ¥'iritiim. 

CoUebu  iSco=Caes. 

&.  a.  1. 

vci^tzacy  accipezc  fiaivc  JA^yii^UQ-Z^itci'tcWl  l-nuitatvtc^  fe^tia 
pc-t  vica^iui^i  abc^^e  -uo&i:>  ccPc&raivhi>  XI.  l\aP.  9Iou.  p^oa:l- 
^^4■ai.  ^H/tac^iii^cyn  •Hoatru^Mi  iavvt  teqauiinii^  cjiii  ;>afiit'at'ionc.5 
VK>At^ai>   ab   uo^   tffo   {"ettipot^c   pcrj^e^at. 

tulavnvt^  amio^  CL  [eficllct  ct  fionc^te  cccpCctoi  cicjiic  an- 
quzaninz  opc^  ct  vi-re^  et  ^a^nctut  el"  aiicl'ozlt'at'cuv  avnpfiorc^ 
de-Hipexqtie   atitpfiaivha^  novo    in    otbuvc   rctuvtt  moaciucep- 

cFcttae  Dc^t^ac  SoPfeciiiii'M  -uettt^  9Ico-(Bae3.  tio6iCltGnl',  :>tw- 
bla  h^A,mc^-'nioza  it-Gio^ue  p^ovHcuea-n t,  titcz-artiui  tcipu^oticae 
fi&crafiimt  totae  cot^fe'ta'Ht'ro6nr  ac  tvnpetut»t  cojicotbianvcjt'ic. 

'Da&a'm^ua  c^uziiwatovuac  lu  repw^G.  ^t1:^ibU140-^1ta-^aa  X. 
^aC.  3ti4^.  ai4vio  Safiitb   MDCCCXCVI. 

^of^a^t»tc.>  ^§1:^01110^^  St■ca^-^t5, 

236 


[university    of   VIRGINIA] 

PROFESSORES  •  VNIVERSITATIS  •  VIRGINIENSIS 

VIRIS  •  DOCTISSIMIS  ■  ILLVSTRISSIMIS 

PRAESIDI  •  CVRATORIBVS  •  PROFESSORIBVS 

ADHVC  •  COLLEGII  •  NEOCAESARIENSIS  ■  lAMIAM  •  VNIVERSITATIS 

PRINCETONIENSIS 
SALVTEM  •  IN  •  DOMINO 

Ua^'^oLs^  g^a^u^:£-£^;-f^i<^i-,  s^i^o-d^  k^a^c^  -.^uo^d^o-^  u^o-h-c-^  Loc^sA^  e^l-i^e'  h^c^'UZLc^i'p-'t-^ 
h^LuyucLy  t-a^'nu  v-s^vu^  yi^^sA^tJt-G^Sy .      Yio^yyt^  i^i--c^u-t  o-Li^vK'  Lvv^e^'iJVa^L'i^fi^  t-K^t^nt'C-ot- 

i^«,-*c-ui^w--tt-i^,  cuvui^yyuu^ii'  e^i^t  Cwct-ct-t'tcti^,  s^uo^c^e^  i^v-vcLcyVW  p^o-p-'U^Ct'  c^Xj-^^c^oLou^'yvt- 
•L^Z'iL'   ^s^c^u^'A^cLc^Z'    y^e-^tt^o-   -^CJ-CC-e-e^i-CL-    yuu^vt-t'q^vua.zyyi-    i:Ls^tu^sA^tL.'ydC ,   e-a^6,a^u^£' 

Praeses  ordiuis  professorum. 

237 


[WASHINGTON   UNIVERSITY,  MISSOURI] 

I 

The  Chancellor  and  Faculty  of  Washington 
University  gratefully  acknowledge  the  kind 
invitation  of  the  President,  Trustees  and  Fac- 
ulty of  Princeton  University  to  take  part  in 
the  celebration  of  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  founding  of  Princeton 
College. 

They  regret  that  they  cannot  be  represented 
on  that  occasion,  but  they  extend  their  hearti- 
est congratulations  on  the  growth  and  success 
of  Princeton  University,  and  their  best  wishes 
for  its  continued  prosperity. 

Washington  University, 
St.  Louis,  October  15,  1896. 


238 


[western  reserve  university] 

Jc>zaeded  et  Jozofe^^oied 

LbnlvezAltatid  cJoc-Secvationld  Uccidentatid 

Vlzh  cJllu.ihi.iiLmij  Jjoctiddiinid 

JoiacAidl  ct  U-DcofcSAozilnLd 

(DoLLeqii   /oeocaedatiendid 

Salute  ni 


eiii^ne  no.)  vocatid  iit  celebtando  fedtiun  diem  (boUegii 
I  Oeocaedatiendid    centedimuni    qiunqiiagediininii    iiitexdunud, 

cJlhagna.)  grat'iad  kabemiid,  et  llbeiitex  vlcatiiun  deleqa- 
himud  (Jill  ptaeciaza  tetnpotld  acti  facta  atcjue  dpeni  fututt 
maiotem  vobid  gtatuUtut.        Vatete. 

3)atuni  (olcwlaiidt  XII .  ahal,  STIbataj 
lUMu  iLzacMaii  tf'acultatt.ique 
pet  Sctibam,  &J ,  So .  tSlatnez . 


239 


[western    university    of   PENNSYLVANIA] 

^-ni/uG/tcvi lati^  0CC lb c 1 1 laf i .^  ^Tg j i ti m\ iva ■nW\Myii> 

'^-taeaibi  cl'  ':Troj-'c.'«^o^iGiu> 

el  14-  (EdTecjio  9Xcocac;>a'tieni>i  Co'm^'Hi.cvtaHtifciid^ 

Safiit'cin   lit  '3)oiviino. 

^3156^  ariciucui  befiaaitiua  ea::  noitx^o  otoinc  acabcmico  Dioariimt 
J^>£i^  riiiiu:>  uMiVCZo'tiaixit  anno  cc\\\'cm%mo  C|iitiicjiiac|c^iiiio  iiiilli 
CoffcQti  St-eocaeia-r-icitMCi,  ct  -facteiiiut-  -uo&bcin'w^  6oni:>  cjuae,  '^Dei 
ptombevttia,  coi^iatti^  cciiu>a  proiiioucnbi  ^ciet1'tla14l  ct  fite^a^  ue^trae 
maqriae  wniuc^attatii*  -pr-oaccuta  ^uivl",  cfc  titaccbiie  hoviozaio:^  mo:> 
fia&emu:>  c|iii&u>  vi^ittctc  caj  fvac  u  11  iue  1:^*1  tate  mcariiivtr  Ciccl',  cjut  ivi 
^acciifat^l&ti^  fettii  uciitut^io  bte  i>tcc^i  luo  ^cciiiibo  lucii^o  Octoori^  cib^il'. 
3taatic  Siifiefmimi  ^acoGu^u  cICoCCaitb,  GattceWa^tiiin  l\uilu^  tirii- 
viitc>ita\\:>,  beCigiitvti^  uicat^itiiit  cl'  ci  tuavibatint^  tit  DoGia  -noatta-ni- 
evaft^tevn  a^atu^ationetitcitie  tebbat. 

elCctvricu^  S.  Sct^lSnc-t, 

i-M-  acbi6ui>  acabewicia  i-tAvivetAiXaiiA 
h'lc  pj^tmo  Clpt^ilii 

A.  D.  MDCCCXCVI. 


[     SEAL      j 


240 


[WILLIAMS    COLLEGE] 


Praeses  Professores  Collegii  Guilielmensis  viris  clarissimis  doctis- 
simis  Praesidi  et  Professoribus  et  Curatoribus  Collegii  Neocaesari- 
ensis  salutem  reddunt. 

Ex  vestra  invitatione  nos  Praesidem  nostrum  delegimus  vicarium 
qui  proximo  mense  Octobri  gratulationes  hujus  Collegii  vobis  afferat 
et  ad  celebrandas  ferias  apud  vos  adsit.  Interea  etiam  nunc  vobis  ac 
Collegio  honoratissimo  vetustissimo  Neocaesariensi  gratulamur  non 
mode  de  ejus  senectute  beata  sed  etiam  de  annorum  centum  et  quin- 
quaginta  praeteritorum  memoria  splendida.  Speramus  porro  fore  ut 
Universitas  Princetoniensis  in  futurum,  sicut  adhuc  Collegium  Neo- 
caesariense,  vera  felicitate  fruatur. 

EBEN  BURT  PARSONS, 

Sci-ilnr. 
Datum  in  oppido  Guilielmensi  die 
vicesimo  Junii 
A.  S.  MDCCCXCVI. 


241 


[university    of   WISCONSIN] 

J^zaedidi  et  J^tofeddotibud 

(DeUbettiniL  (Dollegit  ibeocaedatiendid 

<^.  ^.  5). 

Jotaeded  et  tL>tofeddoted 

LDnwe'Cdltatui  cJoel  p,    Widcotidlnendld, 


S^iod  V0.1,  vni  dochdAimi  cl  .}pectattddimt,  ttte  tnemoza  iitcliu^  fedtu 
celebtandiii  ct  vcnczaotlcin  colleqii  vedtit  anttquttatem  et  .iancttddimam 
eoxtiin  qui  fitndavexunt  ineinoriain  pro.seqni  volitidttii  ncc  non  .iollctnnibud 
pezactid  nunc  deniuni  nonicn  Hontwi.iitalt.i  addcidceie  condtituidttd,  qui 
dempez  dtudioztun  pzopc  unn'czdaltum  pattocintnni  suMepidtiA,  nemo  at 
cczte  Mw  zei  publicae  nodtzae  conununi.i  dtve  niatoztJ  litlezazum  ct  .icicnti- 
azuin  zei  publicae  civiA  quin  ex  amnio  gaudeat. 

^uapzoptcz  Icgavimii.i  cod  qui  vobt.i  .ialutctn  ab  ozdtnibu.i  tiodtztd 
nunttent  ct  munezibuA  Icgatoium  lu.ttozum  i.bnivezMtatu  no.ittae  apud 
vod  fungantuz. 

^uozuni   nomtna   ac  dignttateA  haec  Aunt: 

GazoUid  CJljeiiclall  S^danidf  JaJo,  <JJ., 

^zacAeA. 

JJofianned  yiitlielmttd  &teainj,  JdJo.  ^Jj., 

ShiloA,  ct  Saedagog.  ^zofcAAot. 


f ^^,^^\  3)euA  0.  c)}(5.  incept'iA  favcat 


X y  wAtziA  ct  s\iA  valctc. 


242 


[  WITTENBERG    COLLEGE ] 

Jc>rac,se,s  et  Jo>zofeddozed 

dn  (Doilccjio    yitebezcicnM  (ootntnozanted 

Jc>zaedldi  et  J^zoledAozilnu 

(ooltecjU  meocaedaziendld  Jaod  Jjle 

Vicedlmo  (^ecundo  aXDiija.s  (yiocnMd 

uiet   LonivezMtad  Jotincetonietidid 

<sf.  2).  S. 

Ibod  J^rofeMoted  Gollegii  Pltebetcjetidid  cjuod  &ollcgiuin 
fbcocaedazietide  fetia,i  daecutated  in.itituetit  niultum  gaudernud 
et  fore  at  eaeaetn  ao  eo  iteziun  et  itetuni  celebietitut  tempoie  fu- 
tiiio  dpetatnud,  cJooniae  mitie  annotiim  condttae  contiqldde  ludod 
daecuiated  (juattutn  ceiebtaxe  memozia  tenetniid.  Ibtlnani  ibn'i- 
vetditad  JjtirLcetotiietidid  duo  iniitedttno  die  annwetdazio  jetlad 
celeozet  I 

i  obid,  Jjtaeded  et  J^rofedAozcd  (boilegii  iBeocaedaxiend'u  ! 
c/tattad  agimu.i  maximad  pto  inv'itatione  ,)uavi  iaetiMunique 
Jozaedtdeni  no^ttum,  ^,  c^,  Uzt,  vicazium  cjai  lio.sp'it'io  a.UL.-i 
vedtzo  vobldcuin  co  tempoie  laetetuz  iibi  quod  antea  fuezit  (bolle- 
giam  loeocae^aziende  Lhiiivetditad  ^ztncetoniendii  tunc  zite 
facta  inaacj uzabltut  deiegabunud, 

Sduazdud    U .    vveavez, 

3)atuin  (^ prim] fid  Jit  (^ctiba  tfacultati^. 


in  aXwpublica  Ohioendi 
die  qittnto  Gctobtij 
A.  S.  MDCCCXCVl. 


i     SEAL      ] 


[  YALE   university] 

itaeded  et  &ocu  et  Jotofeddoted 
iba'wetd'itatid   JJaUtidU 
J^taedldi  (Dutatotihud  J=>zofeddoiibud 
(joiie^'i'i   ^ibeo-haedatiendij 
(Doilemnia  Qiedquldaecuiat'ia  ibeUbzatuiid 

(sf.  ^.  iD. 

''Vobt^,  viTt  illiUtttdMtnt  ct  docti.iMint,  e.r  ammo  ac  vete  gxatulaniin  non 
mIuiu  quoJ  (jollegiuin  ''lljco-iSaedaziendc  per  tot  annoJ  exjttttt  flotuitque,  jeJ 
ettani  quia  et  WJ  et  qui  ante  WJ  fuezunt,  intet  muttad  leturn  poltticazutn 
mutationed,  iinmo  vczo  tntcz  tot  zezuni  hutnanazutn  vici.iditudincJ,  Mudiid 
UhezaltbuJ  vezaeque  zehgioni  foztttez  felicitez  dcinpez  conAultiidtid,  loec  nod 
wdtiain  lianc  htdtortam  pxaeclazani  zedptceze  poMiiniuj  dine  pecidiazi  quodani 
gaudto  diini  zecozdaniuz  multod  e  nostzid  alumnid  apuo  WJ  muneztbiu  offictu- 
que  et  adminutzandi  et  docendi  honeMidMme  fuactod  esde, 

ST^axiine  voJ  decebit  annum  wdtzi  (Sollegii  centeMnium  quinquageMmum 
jeziid  daeculazibud  diqnaze,  dpczamudque  foic  iit  iMac  feziae  taltbiu  caettmoniu 
aiuptciidque  tam  bonid  agantuz  ut  ex  dlo  die  in  pezpetuum  pezmaneat  czedcat- 
qite  in  .iingtilod  annod  'i.bnivezMtad  ^zincetonienstd, 

iBobid  peiijiatum  fecidtid  quod  nod  vobidcum  eo  die  annivezdazto  laetazi 
voluidtid,  conqzucnttque  tcmpoze  a  nobid  delicjctuz  qui  pzo  nobid  liodpitio  vedtzo 
utatuz. 


^Ijimothciid  ^wicjht,  Szaeaed. 

,         „  _  ^       ,  I      SEAL      I 

V.  %onad  ^iilnt.  <Sg.  2).  lS^6.  \^ 


3),  iBovo-SoOztu  (jonnecttcutendi  f         \ 

SEAL 


244 


[  YALE    UNIVERSITY  ] 


JJaU    Ihnivezdttijf 

Uctobetf  i8p6 , 


Oo  the    (Otiidteea  and  cFacultij  of 
J:Dzinceton    ihnweuitij : 

ohe  (joipotatlon  of  JJaU  '^IbniveMiti/ 
have  dedi^tiated  the  cJlDevetend  Joxofeddot  yeozcje 
Math  a^idhet,  zD.zD.f  Jo  Jo,  £0.,  to  attend  ad 
theii  official  leptedentatlve  the  exexcldea  to  be  held 
at  Jotinceton  in  coninieniotation  of  the  dedquicen- 
tennial  anniveiiiaii/  of  the  founding  of  the  (ooUege 
of  Ibew  ofezdei/,  and  to  extern)  in  pet.ion  the  con- 
c/tatulationd  which  have  aLteaaij  oeen  expieddea 
bif  a  fotmai  communication  in  wiitinc/, 
Jif  vote  of  the  Gotpotation, 

Sgite^t,  d^.   8B,  Sextet, 

^eczetazy. 


24:6 


CANADIAN 


[  DALHOUSIE   UNIVERSITY  ] 

(^etiatud  G^cadcmlciid   ihnivezditatu  Jjallioadianae 

Viiid  (oiaziddunb  Jjoctiddltnid 

Jc>taedidi  (ouzatotibiid  Jctzofe-idozibud 

(ooilecjii   /(oeo-(jaedaziendid 

0^alutem. 

i  obiJ,  vizi  jpectatiMunl  et  cLoctiddiniL,  c/tatulaniut  cjuoJ  au  c^ii- 
nlvet.iaziuiri  (jeiitediniuin  cjuincjuacfedununi  Ihiiivet.iitatii  vcittae  coii- 
ditaejani  btevi  pteventuzl  edtu. 

J^etatatiun  nobid  fiiitf  abliinc  aliquot  mended,  cettioted  fieti  vo,i, 
hanc  tantani  occadwnein  dpectaiited ,  dtatiudde  Ibnivetditateni  vedttam, 
quatn  bene  novunud  nutticein  alinani  Q^ttiuni  Jj>ibetaliuni,  luceni 
doctzinae  et  dcienttae  indlc/nenif  et  vetudtate  venexabilem,  nomine  vetete 
oniiddo,  nomine  appellaze  novo  et  ampliote  quod  eju.)  utiiitati  aucto- 
zitati  famaeque  accommodatiud  videatut, 

<Jje  invitatione  ut  nod  pcz  vicaiiuni  creziid  addimud  a  vobid 
mende  Uctobzi  celebtandid  tani  beni^na  tamquc  konotifica  cjzatiad 
Ubentiddime  agimud  :  quamobtem  Jozaedidem  nodtzum  Jjohannem 
cfotzedt,  ^.<JJ.,  Jj .  (D.Jsy.i  vizum  zevezendum  ct  ezuaitum  deieji- 
niud,  qui,  ibumine  favente,  hidce  c/eziid  aadit  et  pazticepd  dit  Laeti- 
tiae  vedtzae  ac  hodpitii,  et  tedtificetut  quanto  in  honote  ap^id  nod  dit 
Ibnivezditad  Jo'zincetoniendid  quamtamque  voluptatem  ejud  auctud  et 
ptodpezitad  dempez  nobid  dint  allatuia, 

Jjacobud  (j.  amacCftegoZf  alio,  (S^-/  JJ>  (2xc./ 

EPb.  S.  Sdin.  Soc,  cBy.  S.  (San,  Soc, 
^en,  G^cad,  Sec^. 
zDatutn  aSalifaxiae, 
(Saplte  %.  (^cotiae,  fZ2\ 

SS,.  3).  MDCccxcyi. 

249 


[  McGILL  UNIVERSITY  ] 


Concjjii  liJcocacj^arinijBiijf 

^ttibersitatis  JHacsdlianae 

a^oittc  JScgio  in  ^^robhicia  Canabcn^i  ^Sitac 

<&.  ^.  2D. 


Pergrntnm  nobis  fctistis  qnob  aniiornm  centum  ct  qninqnaginta  fclicitcr  pcnictornm  lactam 
memoriam  cclcbratnri  nos  quoqnc  c  finitima  ac  nicina  ciuitalc  in  partem  ganbii  ocstri  tiocarc 
uoluistis.  lit  cnim  inter  omnia  boctrinae  bomicilia  nbicumqnc  tcrrarnm  posita  summa  semper 
cxstare  bebet  bcneoolentia  et  caritas,  qnippe  quornm  patrocinio  trabitac  sint  artes  bisci- 
piinaeque  omncs  quae  ab  Ijnmanitatcm  pertinent,  arto  qnobam  societatis  uincnlo  ct  ipsac  inter 
6c  coljaerentes,  ita  cos  potissimum  betet  fraternitatis  ncxum  maximc  praebirare  qui,  quamnis 
bccnrsu  temponim  et  rernm  iniquitate  separati,  consrii  tamen  sibi  sunt  naturali  sc  quabam 
tjoluntatis  stubiorum  officiorum  communione  inter  se  rontineri.  Cibentissimis  igitur  animis 
occasionem  tam  lactam  arripimus  fraternam  nostrum  erga  uos  amicitiam  testificanbi.  QHno 
in  re  ut  semper  alias  communis  sanguinis  ct  communinm  originum  sacrosancta  nobis  obucrsa- 
tur  memoria,  quae  utinam  nunquam  consencscat  aut  bebilitetur!  Sit  quosi  saecnlorum  quob- 
bam  augnrinm  futurorum  qnob  l)oc  quantulumcumque  est  pietatis  erga  nos  bocumentnm  et  uos 
comiter  inuitauistis  ct  nos  libcntissime  pracbuimus.  tfiuib  ?  nonne  similia  utrique  llninersi- 
tati  fuerunt  primorbia?  ct  quamquam  multum  iam  mutata  est  rerum  conbitio  ac  species,  quam- 
quam  biuersam  luubamus  rei  publicac  rationcm,  gcnerc  tamen  lingua  noluntate  institutis  nonne 
abeo  inter  nos  consociati  sumus  ut  pacne  nnius  membra  corporis  esse  nibcamur?  ^^^^^^^^ 

(Qnarc  scitote,  uiri  boctissimi,  cum  mnlti  ct  illnstres  oiri  lactum  ilium  biem  ccstrae  originis 
Bobiscum  propebiem  celebraturi  sint,  bencuolentiorcm  abfutnrum  esse  neminem  quam  qnem  uo- 
lorum  nostrornm  interpretem  belcgimus,  ucstrac  laetitiae  testem  ac  participem.  3s  crit  Jpro- 
canccUarius  l)uius  llniucrsitatis,  ©ulielmus  Peterson,  illagister  QVrtium,  Cegum  doctor,  mi 
CO  mogis  corbi  crit  uestris  intcressc  feriis  quob  Scotia  oriunbus  et  nnpcr  in  Ijas  terras  trans- 
oectus  probe  scit  quam  bene  be  ucstra  Hninersitatc,  perinbc  ac  be  nostra,  merita  sit  patria,  cnm 
Scotis  l)ominibus  tanqnam  proprinm  munns  manbatnm  esse  nibcatur  opus  funbamenta  Hni- 
Bcrsitatum  iacienbi  quae  Ijobic  cxstant  in  tot  tamque  biuersis  orbis  terrarum  partibus.  ffinm 
tielimns  actipiatis  ut  qui  nos  artissimi  l)uius  cognationis  ninculi  optime  possit  commonefaccrc. 
diuib  plura  ?  llnincrsitati  ncstrac  nouum  iam  saeculum  optimis  anspiciis  augustiore  nomine 
ingrebicnti  ex  animo  gratulamur,  fausta  in  futurum  precantes  omnia.  eHuaccnnque  bos  'IMmac 
iilatris  nataliciam  cclebrantcs  nobis  optatis  cabem  et  nos  optarc  pro  certo  ijabctote.  bioat, 
crescat,  florcat  per  saccula  plurima  Uninersitas  princctoniensis  ! 

Batum  iWonte  MfQio 

a.  a.  Hm  Won.  ©ctobt.  jfaJBffiCeXffilTK 

250 


[  queen's  college  and  university  ] 

cy^i-^'tU'Uddi.'i^uwi  -e^-'Ci-ij  'U'i-U  ■t/-tud'C'U<id-i^i^-t.,  ^e^ii-Cu^  A^u-tud 
1'n-f-'U€4^^€Td-td  -aAu-cc  A-aiZ-ed   ^eAle-nM-i-a^nu^^ed  -df^n'tzt/tze  ai/ 
(0-c4.-&^/'i-ei'f^  A'l<xwi--<X'i(-e'f^€i-ei'^n.  ■a^i^'n'e-d^^  -c-i^-m  dM-c-c€ddud-  ^-ed/iiid 

■t^/u-a^-i^^id  ^-eyn-tz^-ud  ■ad^^ni.'ii/m  ■add-e'nd'i^  d-M^A^c^tdd-t'm^  -oAi^/ 


'Ce^'d'i-ciyn^ciZ'e  ^ciz^cdZ-ei-e-  €-1  jfe'M.c-ed  d-i-n/. 


7 


C'4'a  (0€n^€u^ 


'■te   XXVII   cyme-ndui  OM-tUth^ 
O/  ^.  MDCCCXCVI. 


\e-t^{<i'i^ai. 


[     SEAL     J 

251 


[university   of   TORONTO] 


Canccllariujs,  aicc  Cancellatiujs,  pxam^,  pvoU^mt^ 

®[ttiber0itatt0  Corontonen0i0 

pracisitii  tt  ^votmonhm  pracjstantijs^imae 

'©[nilier0itati0  3^rincetonien0i0 

jsalutem  majcimam  nant. 


©i 


2Crm0 


^•ft/t.artot-** 


,\>o 


IJiri  Cjircelletttissimi, 

ani\3crj9itatcni  pracciarijsfjsimam  annum  ccntcjefinnnii  quin^ 
quagcjstniuni  iam  jjcrcgisfsc,  nojef,  ut  no^tram  crga  tio^ 
ticnctoinitiam  ojstcntiamus  nostrasquc  gratuIationcjS  gra? 
tulationibujS  nniltoruni  aniicoruni  atibaniU3tf,l3as  jptacacntcief 
Uttcra.fii  cv*  f\at  plaga  jefcptcntrionali  niittiniUiS.  -^^cm-^^^-u^  ^ 
<«^.<*^.  ^umniani  niini  c  bcsftra  gloria  bignitatcque  lactt; 
timii  toUiptatcniquc  capinnifif.  <i3ratulannn:  bobis^  quob 
tot  tanta^quc  facilitates^  ataliniiicajf  in.fiflituiatifli,  qiioJj  tot 
jStuDcntCief  jsfcijolarcisquc  in  auIijGf  ticjaftrii^  tilictiitf,  qiioD  tot 
aiunino^  sfinguiarciSf  cjrimiosfquc  nunicratijsf.  <i3ratu!ai 
niin:  tobi^  quob  artiuni  libcraliuni  biscipiinariiniquc  hta 
nariini,  quob  iittcraruni  {jiinianioruni,  quob  .scicntiac  pl)ii 
loBopliiac  tficologiac,  quob  patriae  raritati^,  quob  pacijS  tt 
IiDcrtatisf  ^tubio^i  -sicnipcr  cjBti^  tt  fiu^tijS.  -^^-ik^-i^^-i^k^ 
<*^.<^^.  (Unoii  ut  0tct  foctuna  bonniiJ,  ut  aiupUjjfssfiniiiS  ()o- 
noribu^S  abunbcti?,  ut  magnum  tt  rcipublirac  ft  rcligionii^ 
ct  Ijisf  pracstcrtim  tcmporibUiS  fibci  publicac  prac^ibium 
^itijsf,  nrtic  liijr  birtuti^  ct  gloriac  bcitftrac  riuccrc  bcjainat, 
nojet  onnic?  cupimu.sf  ct  ^ummo  jstubio  prcramur. 
^.  2Datum  cr  ilnib:  €oront:  ar»>^r»)4M 
mcn^:  OPctob:  ^^ 

1896 


Vik9i^:9> 


/      JCrme"    \ 
©art 


S>niticr8"itati6  «!rol(i.'(jium 
npub  (Corontonenscs 


252 


IPnmrrsini  of  (Sotonto 
"fforpocate  .^cal 


EUROPEAN 


[university    of   ABERDEEN] 


cfiaedmi  ^uia/Mimid  C/iadddau/iyCd 
u/eau  cyun€e/{iniendid 


GKceteietittcid   cti.-1-u^i.utde^  pe-itad^ue  icic-cico-   '<3>ectt-Cfi'led   t/yi    a-m-nio  «dde  -it^  ce^u-taie. 

&je-n-6  jf^-iXAti^-ed.   ■i^-t^tt'l.   ■a.-ua-ci   ■ttod   ■ff.tto-a.u-e   -tat  ^Ki'i'ie'^n.    -a-a-ntit-^   ■tted'ikt.  'Ucctid-Ctd 

«■£  -itt/ncu-ca  /'la'tei.'yi.ei  **2-2fe-^  Cy^la.'yida'^a.i^e-caa  e.'i^  ^^-td-a-ica-yi-iycc-cid  co'nj^'yn-a't'e  d^iait^^c- 

t^a-le.    ■j^^-a/cn-ti^-tt-'mu4    -a-tn   fe^t-tttl    ■ued-M-ttt    -M^^i'ide    \^c-Ca-(M-t    -acteilde^  ■^'ya■u^<l^■cie   ca-i-ai'yi 
'nttdyiitd.  c/'iajCedd<i-t-i^{td  -uac<i-d-iyt  c^t^ad  ■ued-Ci-'Od.  acc-t-ece^yi^a-Ce^  -t-u-yic  ■t-e^m^-oi-M  -fyi^u-tde-ie. 


XXXm<, ^-nt:^-  MDCCCXCVI. 


255 


[university    of   ATHENS] 
V 

ANAST Alios    AIOMHAHS    KTPIAKOS 

TOY  EN   A0HNAI2   E9NIK0r  nANEHISTHMIOT 
%at  Kaf)'ff('f]zrfi  zr^!;  OsoXoyta? 

^PATKllKQ   A.  nATTSN 

■ 

npuxdvet 
Tor    EN    nPINSTQNH    nANEOISTHMIOT 

Xvipstv. 

'AajJ-cvaiTax'  i"/.oiJ.t'57.;j.s6a  xa  'jjiEtjpa  Yfjaajiata  oi?  I''f  ats  ,joi)X=a6ai  a:roataXfjVat 
;rfj6?  'JiJ-ac  tcbv  zap'  Vjiiiv  ■/.a6'/jYTjT(ii)v  t'.voc  [XiSj^ovta  tov  [j-sXXsr  aYstv  sopTwv. 
'H[X£rc,  PsXtwt;.  :rGXX'i?  [j.sv  6[j.oXo70'i[J.5v  ■/apttctc  tw  t;  Ttavod'f  (j)  Beij)  Tto  sitcovti 
"'E-fu)  ei[J.l  Tj  aX7j6E'a  xal  to  'fw?"  v.y.1  r/ma  Ostav  iiiooEiSavTi  tTjV  irv7.T=ivTjV  aXrj- 
Ge'.av,  X5r.L  o;jiv  s:rl  tfj  ■/.aXoxa-cafJia  t'{j  TCfio?  Tjixa?,  xai  si)  1'aij.sv  w?  xoivoO  ovtoc  -otaiv 
T;[iiv  TOO  U7cs(j  ifiQ  sTtinrqivrfi  a'/wvo?  xoiva?  /pTj  xal  ta?  sopTac  a7£tv  xavtsuGsv 
u)C  ajto  Gxoria?  ai'a'5Xo;rEi'56at  6'  Vjv  TjV'y/.a[j.cV  xal  avoasiv  [j.sXXo[J.si'  oSov,  xai  toi? 
TrafjsX-^X'jSoai  StSaaxaXo-.c  si?  to  [j.sXXov  ■/jjf;a6aL-  o'j  [j.TjV  aXXa  5;a  ts  tTjV  twv 
xaofKBV  x^^s^^'^^i^*-  ^'J  T'P  sisaTiv  YjJj.iv  TTjXt5iao6'  opwatv  oix^.a  xaxi  -j-o  twv 
jjapijapcov  sv  Kfj-iiT';^  717^°^-^'''*  iravTjYUpiCstv,  xal  5ta  to  Ta?  sopta;  a^saGat  sv 
olrs^tsf;  ta  [j.a6-/jiiaTa  Trap'  fjiJ-iv  StoaaxsTai  /jjovoi?,  xal  Sia  to  too?  tottou?  cue 
TcapptoTaTO)  aXXTjXwv  SisoTava'.,  aoTol  (isv  00"/  oloi  t'  sajisv  TtapaYSVsaGat,  ivsTSi- 
Xa;is6a  8e  Avj^YjTpup  Mjrotaa-jj.  av5pl  xoo[j.tt[)  xal  'f  tXojrdXtoi  xal  tTj?  'EXXaSo? 
;ia(j'  u[j.iv  npo^svci)  tsva'.  ts  Jif-o?  'jij-ac  iv  tio  xaGrjxovt'.  Xpovio  xal  Tt[j.fjOat  ij-Iv  xal 
auY^apriva'.  {)|j,lv  :rap'  TjIJ-cov  k'f'  olc  Ta?  iopta;  aysTS  auvsu^aaSai  Ss  [j.sG'  ijij.wv 
Tip  SoTTjpt  TWV  'fwTWV  (")s(i),  iv'  wajisp  £v  Tt])  ;rap£XrjXu66Tt  outw  xal  to  Xoittov  [xyj 
-aooTjtat  £:rt3a'J;'.Xsijdjj.svo?  to  ajiXsTov  xal  Sy'.ov  aotoO  'fwc  o[j.iv  ts  xal  iraat 
Toi?,  w5TCp  6  0sto?  HaOXo?  sft],  oo'^iav  CTjTOuaiv. 

"EpfjwaOs. 

'0  np'jravcc  A.  Ato[jLYj5Y;S  Kupiavtoc. 


256 


[university    of   ATHENS] 

(  Translation  ] 


ANASTASIOS   DIOMEDES   KYRIAKOS 
President  of 

THE    NATIONAL   UNIVERSITY    AT   ATHENS 
and  Professor  of  Theology 

TO 

The  distinguished 

FRANCIS    L.  PATTON 

President  of 

PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY 

Greeting. 

We  have  received  with  great  pleasure  your  letter  in  which  you  express 
the  wish  that  one  of  our  professors  be  sent  to  participate  in  your  approach- 
ing celebration.  We  are  sincerely  grateful  to  the  all-wise  God  who  said, 
"I  am  the  truth  and  the  light,"  and  thus  showed  the  precious  truth  to  be 
divine,  and  to  you,  dear  sir,  for  your  kindness  to  us;  and  we  are  aware 
that,  as  the  struggle  for  knowledge  is  common  to  us  all,  we  should  make 
the  celebration  in  common,  and  then  as  from  an  eminence  survey  the  road 
that  we  have  travelled  and  are  yet  to  travel,  and  use  the  experience  of  the 
past  as  a  guide  to  the  future.  But  because  of  the  hardness  of  the  times 
(for  it  is  impossible  for  us,  seeing  the  evils  done  by  the  barbarians  in  Crete, 
to  attend  festivities),  and  because  the  celebration  takes  place  in  our  term- 
time,  and  because  of  the  great  remoteness  of  our  countries  from  one  an- 
other, we  cannot  be  present  in  person.  We  have,  however,  delegated 
Demetrius  Botassi,  who  is  a  wise  and  patriotic  man  and  Consul-Gen- 
eral  of  Greece  to  the  United  States,  to  be  present  with  you  at  the  proper 
time,  and  to  acknowledge  the  honor  and  rejoice  with  you  at  your  celebra- 
tion, as  well  as  to  join  with  you  in  prayer  to  God,  the  giver  of  lights,  that, 
as  in  the  past  so  in  the  future  also,  he  may  not  cease  to  bestow  his  pure 
and  holy  light  liberally  both  upon  you  and  upon  all  those  who,  as  the 
divine  Paul  saith,  are  seeking  for  wisdom. 

Farewell. 


President   A.  Diomedes    Kyriakos. 
25T 


li 


M) 


[university   of   ATHENS] 


ANASTASIOS    AIOMIIAHS    KITIAKOS 
TOT  EN   A0HNAIS   EBNIKOr  HANEniSTHMIOr 

Tl]) 

4>PArKISK9   A.  nATTON 

npuxdvst 

Tur    EN    nPINSTiiNH    nANEOISTHMIOr 

'Av$fi  eXXoYtjifp 

Xatpsiv. 

' Ars\i.B^ixkaz  £7.o[J.ia7.[X£6a  ta  i)[j.£t=pa  Y[>aiJ.[iaTa  ol?  s'f  7.t=  jjOoXsa6a[  a;rooTaXfjVai 
:rf/6?  0(14?  xwv  jraf/  yjiiiv  y.afJ-^j-cTjtwv  T-.vot  [j-sSs^ovra  lov  [tsXXsr  a-fstv  softwv. 
'H[j.efc,  psXtiGTS,  :roXXa?  [jiv  oij.ciXo-co'jij-sv  -/apita?  tc])  ts  jcavao'f  tj)  0e(o  no  eItovti 
"'E-fw  eljj.t  Tj  aXffii'.a  v.al  m  'fcb?"  xai  goto)  Gsiav  a^roSsi^avTi  ttjV  i[jaT='.vT|V  aX/j- 
fJs'.av,  xal  o'jiv  im  fjj  xaXoxaYa6tcf  r^  irpo?  %*?,  xal  su  l'a[j.£v  (uc  xotvoO  ovtoc  :raa'.v 
T|[i.iv  Toij  DTCEp  Tf;?  eTrnTrjiXTjc  aYcbvo?  xo'.vac  ypTj  xal  ta;  soptac  a-^siv  xivTsOGsv 
(1)?  OLOT  axor^a?  afaaxoTtsioSai  6'  TjV  TjV'jxaixsv  xal  avoasiv  [jiXXoiisi;  oSov,  xal  tot? 
;tap£X-/jXo66a'.  O'.SaixaXo'.c  Ji?  to  [isXXov  yy'tp^i.'.-  ou  [jl-^jv  aXXa  Sta  ts  ttjv  twv 
xaifjtbv  x*-^^s'^<>T''|t*-  ^'J  T'tp  s'SsoTiv  t,[J.Iv  TTp.txaoG'  opwaiv  oixT/.a  xaxa  'j-6  ttuv 
pafj[3afj(ov  iv  KfjTjx-{j  '(tYvdiJ-sva  7ravr|7Ufji^stv,  xal  ota  to  ta?  iof>ta?  a-ceo6ai  sv 
obirsfj  ta  jj.a6rjixata  Trap'  r/,J.tv  5'.5dax=tai  /povoi?.  xal  Sta  to  touc  to^rouc  w? 
Trapptotatto  aXXT|X(ov  otsotavat,  aijtol  [isv  o'V/  oio'.  t'  £a[i£V  7rapaY£VEa6a'..  ivstsi- 
Xaiis6a  Se  ATjtJ-Tjtpt(i)  Mjtotaafj.  avopl  xoG[j.up  xal  'fiXo:ioXwi  xal  tf;?  'EXXdoo? 
irap'  ujxtv  npo^£V(.)  Uvai  ts  Trpo?  ujidc  sv  to)  xa6-/jxovti  XP^^V  '^"'^  t'-jj-r^aat  jxsv  xal 
'3<riyaprfjy.'.  ouiv  -ap'  t^u-wv  i'f'  otc  td?  soptd?  d-^sts  auvs6|aa6a'.  os  jj-eS'  o[j.a)V 

tci)   OOtf^pt  ttbV  'f  tbtOlV  0E(j),  Iv'   waZSp   £V  tlO   TiapsXYjXuSoTl    OOtW    xal    to    Xo'.TtOV   [XYj 

TrauoTjtai  sTiiSa^jJtXsDojiEVO?   to   aiiXstov   xal   a'/iov    a^JToO  'fthc  'ii>.lv  ts  xal  Trdoi 
tot;,  oJaTTSp  6  0slo?  ITaOXo?  s'fq.  ao'f lav  CT;to'ja'.v. 
"EppcoiG;. 

'0  npuxavtc  A.  Aio^'/jStjc  Kuptayoc. 


J 


256 


II 


[  UNIVERSITV    OF   ATHENS  ] 

[  T7-anslaiWH  ]  A* 

ANASTASIOS   DIOMEDES   KYRIAKOS 
President  of 

THE    NATIONAL   UNIVERSITY   AT   ATHENS 
and  Professor  of  Theology 

TO 

The  distinguished 

FRANCIS    L.  PATTON 

President  of 

PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY 

Greeting. 

We  have  received  with  great  pleasure  your  letter  in  which  you  express 
the  wish  that  one  of  our  professors  be  sent  to  participate  in  your  approach- 
ing celebration.  We  are  sincerely  grateful  to  the  all-wise  God  who  said, 
"I  am  the  truth  and  the  light,"  and  thus  showed  the  precious  truth  to  be 
divine,  and  to  you,  dear  sir,  for  your  kindness  to  us;  and  we  are  aware 
that,  as  the  struggle  for  knowledge  is  common  to  us  all,  we  should  make 
the  celebration  in  common,  and  then  as  from  an  eminence  survey  the  road 
that  we  have  travelled  and  are  yet  to  travel,  and  use  the  experience  of  the 
past  as  a  guide  to  the  future.  But  because  of  the  hardness  of  the  times 
(for  it  is  impossible  for  us,  seeing  the  evils  done  by  the  barbarians  in  Crete, 
to  attend  festivities),  and  because  the  celebration  takes  place  in  our  term- 
time,  and  because  of  the  great  remoteness  of  our  countries  from  one  an- 
other, we  cannot  be  present  in  person.  We  have,  however,  delegated 
Demetrius  Botassi,  who  is  a  wise  and  patriotic  man  and  Consul-Gen- 
eral  of  Greece  to  the  United  States,  to  be  present  with  you  at  the  proper 
time,  and  to  acknowledge  the  honor  and  rejoice  with  you  at  your  celebra- 
tion, as  well  as  to  join  with  you  in  prayer  to  God,  the  giver  of  lights,  that, 
as  in  the  past  so  in  the  future  also,  he  may  not  cease  to  bestow  his  pure 
and  holy  light  liberally  both  upon  you  and  upon  all  those  who,  as  the 
divine  Paul  saith,  are  seeking  for  wisdom. 

Farewell. 

President   A.  Diomedes    Kyriakos. 


257 


[  UNIVERSITY    OF   AMSTERDAM  ] 

^taedidi  (jutatotlbiLd  Mtofeddotibad 

eliid  quod  antea  fult  Gollegiuni  ibeocaedarieride 

abhinc    ibruvetdita,i  Jct'uicetonietidU  fututa 

(2f.  ^.  2). 

thnwezdltad  Q^indtelodamendid 

UA  '^^  maxime  differant  &Sotnine.\  ab  Sndtttutid,  id  ipduni  edde  nemo 
dubitavctit,  quod  in  niagnam  ,iunnnani  ctcscente  nuinezo  annozum 
quo  vixcilnt,  clllci,  ad  ultiinam  ncccMitateni  pedctempttni  apptopin- 
^\>~-  ^^  quanted,  paullatini  denedcendo  marcedceze  cogit  iBatura,  &t>aec  veto 
xohotc  auqentux,  et  eo  lonqiud  dempet  ah  mterttu  futaro  abedde  videntur,  quo  longiud 
tenipoze  ptoceMezunt,  Sanivezo  quum  nemo  ob  illam  caudani  zecudet,  qutn  festoi 
aqat  died,  quibud  amicum  aliquem  aut  neceddaxium  duum,  ceztum  dpatium 
tenipozid  pezmendum,  natalicta  celebtantem  videat,  quid  magid  apte,  magid  na- 
tuzae  zei  convenientez  fiezi  potedt,  quam  ut  omned  gaudeamud  et  gzatulcmuz  ubi 
ofndtitutum  aliquod  bonuni,  utile,  dalutaze,  quale  adkuc  futt  ^edtztim  (oollegium, 
iam  eo  pezvenlddc  ceztiozcd  factt  dumud,  ut  conftzmatum  dpatto  centum,  et  quinqua- 
qinta  annozum  bene  pexacto,  non  dolutn  i'tvat  vigeatque,  ded  ad  amplioza  addpt- 
zand,  ^bnivezditatid  pzivilegttd  indignitum,  novid  vizibud  in  pzoxitnum  daeculum 
ingzedi  poddit,  Staque  Ibnivezditati  V^IO^CETOS^IES^Sl  quae  nunc  zite  facta 
inauquzabituz,  gzatulamuz  Hhnivezditad  Q^nidtelodamendid,  neque  mtnud  dtn- 
cezad  gzatulatwned  duad  a  \obtd  habezi  cupit,  quod  legatum  ad  vod  mitteze 
nequivezit,  qui  voce  et  vultu  tcdtazctuz,  felicitatem  vedtzam  ibovaequc  'rhnwezdt- 
tatid  dalutem  ei  cozdi  eddc.  i^atn  loca  zemota  maximeque  dituncta,  quae  tni- 
pediniento  fucziint  qum  legalud  nodtez  ad  \od  venizct,  haudquaquam  nocent 
vinculo  coniuncttontd,  quod  communto  dtudiozum  libezalium.  condtttuit  tniet  omned, 
eod  qiioquc  qui  numquam  de  videztnt  aut  vidtni  dint;  amoz  eoztim  qui  bonad 
aztei  colunt  non  locid  vicinid  dc  contmet,  ded  mazia  dupezat  et  pzaecipitia  tzandiltt. 
SSac  pezduadione  fzeti  l.bnivezditatcm  nodtzani  commcndamud  in  amicitiam 
'Vedtzam,  et  dpezamud  foze  ut  in  multa  daecula  maneat,  flozeat,  pzopagationt 
dcientiazum  diu  dempezque,  ut  adhuc  fecit  (oollegium  iBeocaedaztende,  tndezviat 
^nivezditad  S^zincetoniendid, 

G.    a\D.   Soiihn,   ffhectoz  STSagnificud. 

1^     \  ^.    oJOdephud   Jjitta,   Senatud  (S3,b-actid. 

SD.  o^mdtelodami 
S^nno  MDCCCXCyi  STBende  dctobzi. 


I     SEAL      I 


258 


[university    of   BASLE  ] 

cJiyectot  et  &eiiatud    ibn'wetdUatld 

cJaadiUetidld 

Jctaedidl  (DittatotioUi)  Jotofeddozibud 

holle^il     ibeocaedaziendid 

&aluteni. 

(Sum  nobid  ante  aliquot  mended  Itttezae  vedtzae  gzatiddiddimae  allatae  cdsent,  qutbud 
nod  tubetatid  unuin  ae  nodtzu  deltgeze,  qui  dolemnibud  daeculazibud  die  annwezdazio 
centedimo  quinquagedimo  acaacrniac  vedtzae  celebzandid  intezeddet,  nemo  neque  tum 
neque  extnde  tnventud  edt,  qui  munud  hoc  nonottficcntiddimum  dudctpezet.  xhniun- 
quemque  entm  detezzeze  videntuz  et  itinezid  inducta  longitado  et  nccedditad  pzaelectionum 
academicazum  podt  tziutn  m.endium  vacationem  tlltd  tpdid  dtebud  tndtauzandazum, 
Yobid  igituz,  quae  edt  vedtza  benivolentia,  excudatod  nod  gJde  voiumud.  &utn  vezo  lam 
viva  nuntii  voce  quid  dcnttamud,  digntftcaic  non  poddumud,  liceat  pez  Uttezad  quidein 
vobidgzatulazi,  quod  podtquam  pez  tziginta  ludtza  facem  ^cientiae  populazibud  dtzenue 
pzaetuliditd,  nunc  in  eo  edt,  ut  in  ampltddunam  univezditatid  dpecicm  atque  fozmam 
exczedcatid.  t^iiibud  S)ivinae  pzovtdcntiae  donid  vobtdcum  taetazt  eo  magid  nodtzum 
edt,  quod  ad  cam  civitatium  Itbezazum  doctetateni  pezttnettd,  quacum  nobid  foedezid 
dcilicet  dijclvctici  dociid  (dt  quidct)i  pazva  licet  componczc  maqntd)  miza  quaedain 
indtitutozum  publicozum  dimilitudo  amicitiaquc  longacva  tntezcedit.  St  vezo  cum  ab 
antiquid  nodtzid  dcientiae  littezazumquc  dedibud  longiud  pzodpicimud,  in  died  magid 
admizabundi  obdczvamud,  quam  lacte  in  tota  vcdtza  tezza  tamquam  in  dolo  novali 
bonazum  aztium  dtudia  cflozueztnt,  quam  pzofuda  dit  uliDaecenatum  vedtzozum 
munificentia,  quam  laboziodam  atque  pzaedtantium.  fetacem  fzuctuuni  de  pzaedtitezit 
liominum.  doctozum  vedtzozum  indudtzta,  !^uo  tn  tlludtzt  opttmozum  quozumque 
ceztamine  inclutam  3IIcaJ)Cmiam  liJcOCACj^iUintSnil  pzincipem  quendam  locum  teneze 
pezauadutn  liabemud,  aldemque  dpczamud  atque  cupimud,  ut  ettam  venientibud  dae- 
culid  vobid  contingat  zezum  vczitatcm  acute  cxplozazc,  dtdcenttum  commoda  tiumanttcz 
adiuvaze,  decud  atque  gloziam  addeze  patriae, 

2)atum  cBadileae  die  Xy  menaid  [julii  atini  MDCCCXCl^J- 

(Datolun    ^011  det  (ylbiikUf 

©tSzozectoz, 

259 


[university  of  Berlin] 


COLLEGIO    NEOCAESARIENSI 

DISCIPLINAE  SEVERAE  AUCTORI 
RELIGIONIS  PURAE  DEFENSOR! 
ARTIUM     LIBERALIUM     CULTORI 

QUOD  PER  CENTUM  QUINQUAGINTA  ANNOS 

lUVENILEM  JUVENILIS  MUNDI  AETATEM 

ET  CORPORIS  ET  ANIMI  LABORIBUS 

AD  SUMMA  IN  RE  PUBLICA  MUNERA  EDUCAVIT 

SEMISAECULARIA   TERTIA 

ANNI  MDCCCXCVI  DIE  XXII  OCTOBRIS 

FAUSTA  FELICIA  PRECANTUR 

AVITAEQUE  COLLEGII  NEOCAESARIENSIS  LAUDI 
NOVA  IN  UNIVERSITATE  PRINCETONIENSI  INCREMENTA  EXOPTANT 

RELIGIONIS  STIRPIS  STUDIORUM 
SOCIETATE  CONIUNCTAE 

UNIVERSITATIS  FPtlDERICAE  GUILELMAE  BEROLINENSIS 

RECTOR    ET   SENATUS 


260 


[university   of   BONN] 


ECTOR  et  senatus  universitatis  Fridericiae  Guilelmiae  Rhenanae  docto- 
rum  concilium  in  foederatis  civitatibus  Americanis  antiquissimum,  quod 
collegii  Neocaesariensis  nomine  CL  annos  feliciter  exegit  iamque  uni- 
versitatis nomine  Princetoniensis  novum  aetatis  et  honorum  cursum  au- 
spicatur,  plurimum  salvere  iubemus  atque  avere. 

Vellemus  quidem  diebus  soUemnibus,  quos  ob  has  fortunae  nominum- 
que  vices  inituri  estis,  per  legatos  ipsi  interesse  et  vota  pro  incolumitate  gloriaque  Vestra 
nuncupare  coram,  sed  quoniam  maria  interiecta  et  longinqua  itinera  vetuerunt,  hac  tamen 
epistula  nostram  Vobis  adsensionem  et  quam  in  pectore  fovemus  gratulationem  et  com- 
precationem  declarari  voluimus,  nam  cognatione  nos  Vobiscum  teneri  iunctos  quasi  quos- 
dam  consanguineos  sentimus,  non  mode  quod  disciplinarum  ac  doctrinae  libertas  semper 
Vobis  cordi  fuit,  non  secus  ac  rei  publicae  isti  in  qua  universitas  Vestra  innata  est  libertas 
fidei  et  religionum  actuumque  civilium,  sed  etiam  quod  originem  traxisse  collegium  Vestrum 
meminimus  ab  ilia  studiorum  et  contentionum  gravitate  dignitate  virtute,  quae  post  refor- 
mationis  tempus  Batavos  et  Britannos  nobilitavit ;  eaque  ratione  Vestram  historiam  repli- 
camus  ad  memoriam  operum  laborumque  quibus  Europeae  gentes  quondam  ac  maiores 
nostri  insudarunt.  et  quae  ab  initio  fuit  litterariis  collegiis  in  nova  tellure  constitutis  atque 
in  vetere  coniunctio  et  societas  eam  proximo  tempore  variae  commeantium  et  conversan- 
tium  necessitudines  auxerunt  amplificarunt.  quam  ob  rem  in  votis  quibus  festissimos  ludos 
Vestros  sesquisaeculares  prosequimur,  hoc  summum  est,  ut  permaneat  haec  coniunctio 
communitasque  in  annos  omnes  magis  magisque  profutura  utrisque.  etenim  in  finibus 
Americae  natura  rerum  hominumque  vita  quae  animum  attentum  et  curiosum  prompta 
cogitatione  et  acri  percutiant  plura  fort  quam  in  nostris  regionibus,  et  locupletes  cives 
multo  largius  ac  liberalius  studia  litterarum  adiuvare  eisque  quae  opus  sunt  subministrare 
solent.  quod  si  ex  alacri  potentium  ingeniorum  concertatione  bonarum  artium  inventio 
conceptio  explanatio  vigebit  sub  utroque  Phoebo,  exemploque  nostratibus  dato  a  Vestrati- 
bus  tam  hie  quam  illic  ornatissimae  erunt  et  paratissimae  sedes  musarum,  tum  impetrasse 
nos  laeti  lubentes  profitebimur  quaeoptavimus  optataque  consignavimus  sollemne  Vestrum 
condecoraturi  ominibus  optimis. 

Bene  rem  gerite  et  valete 
Dabimus  Bonnae  a.  d.  V.  Kal.  Octobres  MDCCCLXXXXVI. 
Rector  et  Senatus  Universitatis 
Fridericiae  Guilelmiae  Rhenanae. 


MAURITIUS  RITTER, 

h.  a.  Rector. 


HOFFMANN, 

Sccr.  Univ. 


263 


[university  of  Brussels] 

3Stuxcffc.>,  fe  15  avzi^,  1896. 


91tec>6ie-u-«d, 


cfh'C-uoccKc^  -me  cfia-tge  be  uou;>  cocpz4AW<^z  touW  ^a 
a-tatifube  pou-t  V^ionwcu/t  citie  -Eiii  a  |ait  -fc  (Eol^cae 
be  '^zi-ncctoM  e-H  in-uil'ant  u-h-  be  ives  -vne-H^fire^  a  Ta-H-ni- 
-uetoai-te  be  i>a  |oubaMovt. 

C-'ec^i;  l^ien  d  tegr-et  ati'i-^  ive  -uoii",  d  cau^jc  be 
■fa  tep^icve  bci>  oo-u-'td  a-uant  -fa  ba-te  bii  22  OctoGte,  baiia 
-f'ivnpo.>5l6lfil:e  be  ^Ne  laite  tep^ecvein^Jet  d  cecv  let"e^;  caz  it 
eAti444e,  atie  -tieit  1^'e^t  pCti^  i^tife  au  ptog^c^  paci|igue 
be  Vtvumanilc  gite  cc^  g^anbcv  ^cuiiiovtev  bTtovu-rHe^ 
-uenu^  be  toui>  fe.\  poivife>  bti  gfote  ct  ^I'auai^it  au^'un 
AH'ut  tyut :   i<i  bc/ucloppe^^HeMl"  iiicei>^ai4t  be  la  Scic4tce. 

^cvUtic'Z'   agrees,  91te:^;^ietl.^^,  -f'ccicp^e^6ioi4   be^ 

^cn-timenti!*  be  pto^t^be  coi4c>ibei:atio-n  bit  corp^^  ptoFe.3- 

dotciE  et"  fc^  inieMiV. 

£e  S^ccl'cttt, 

£t  ?'lle.>.HCiH4;<>  Ici)^  !C^e5ibe^|:,  Q-matdut^^  et  !Ct^o|e<!K^cu'ti>  bit  ColTege 
be  tCtincct'oji  [9Iciu  ^e^sei^]. 

264 


[university   of   BUDAPEST] 

IRector  et  Senatus 

IRcGiae  Scientiarum  ITlnlversitatis  Ibunoaricae  Bu^ape0tinen0i0 

IRectori  /IfcaQnifico  et  1[ncl^to  Senatui 

Hcabemtco  lllniversitatis  princetonlensis. 


'UMMA  nos  laetitia  affecerunt  litterae  Vestrae,  quibus 
"certiores  nos  fecistis,  illustrem  Universitatem  Vestram  die 
20-  Octobris  h.  a.  soUemnia  fundationis  celebraturam  esse. 

Quae  sollemnia  cum  ex  animi  sententia  Vobis  gratula- 
mur,  turn  vero  in  posterum  omnia  fausta  atque  laeta  opta- 
mus  Universitati  Vestrae  ominamurque. 

Quod  praegravibus  rerum  conditionibus,  non  per  legatos 
publice  missos  gratulationem  nostram  facere  nobis  conces- 
sum  est,  vehementer  dolemus. 

Valete,  nobisque  favete. 

Dabimus  Budapestini  in  Hungaria  die  4^  mensis  Octobris 
anno  Domini  millesimo  octingentisimo  nonagesimo  sexto. 

Rector  et  Senatus  Universitatis. 

Stephanus  Bognar 

Archi  Dioecesis  Strigoniensis  Presbyter,  S!!  S^  Pont.  max. 
Camerarius,  Philosophiae  et  Theologiae  Doctor;  Studii 
biblici  novi-foederis  Professor  p.  o.  S.  Sedis  consid.  Assessor 
Societ.  litter,  philos.  S"!  Thomae  de  Aquino  Praeses  item 
compl.  erud.  Soe  Collega,  etc.  facultatis  Theologicae  eme- 
ritus Decanus  et  Praeses;  Scient.  Universitatis  Rector 
Magnificus. 


265 


[  UNIVERSITY    OF   CAMBRIDGE  ] 


/     ?Crni0     \ 


HINC  LUCEM  ET  POCULA  SACRA. 


CoUesii  i5eocaesariensi0 
3Prae0ilii  Curatoribus  3^rofe00orifau0 

^.  H^.  ®. 
®niber0ita0  Cantabrisien0i0. 

ct  cjiii.HC[uciqiivl'a  aGfiino  aiivto^  Fcficitct  furvbatntti  fcria^  :>ciccniazc:> 
ca^e  cele&i^atiii^it-vM.,  cfc  tot  ai^nvoru-iw-  ulci&M->  ^pectatii^vn  pr^obattt utaue 
etiatii '^niue^^itati^  tvomcn  au^plclo  opttiiii>  C5^e  abeptiH^tn-i-H..  Siiuat 
IVobie  zccozhazi  (2-offeqiiiiii-  uc^l■rll)J^  tti:>iqivc  eo  tcittpo^c-  ^n-b^e  co»v:>tt- 
tu^itm,  ctiio  rcgio  tola,  gwac  ctxcititt  iaccGat,  ablVnc  tvivpctit  SSt^ttau- 
itici  iitl'et  cofotiia^  fforento^inici^  Mu-'yne.zci^atiA^Z:  Sii^cit  t^wnc  c|uocfue 
boctii^Uvae  aehcni  -oe:>ti^at4i^,  c^u^avnc^u-am  acc^iiozd  flLrfavtUco  a  110613 
biMiHvctaivt,  ta-H^cvv  cottiMtiMrt^  getvci^t^,  cov>tvi4^tuvl»  fuiguae,  cotvt- 
Mvunluvn  bci^igi^e  ^tubiorttiit  ^vcce^^ithtbitte  cunt  '^niuci>>lt'al'c  tto>l'i^c» 
covv^ocial'aiit  contcMtpfari.  ©rgo  -uofutitali  uc^trae  Cttcnl'ct  o^:>eciii'v  e 
proFc3:>ozi6io  ito^itx^o  uvvinu  (\o\\oz\i>  causa  fegatunt-  ab  -uos  ittltt'imiis, 
gilt,  fiis  iitlrcris  ab  voi  pr^cmtls,  iiosft^u^vw  on^4\ium  ivovnii'ic,  ivoiv  utobo 
pt^actetltos  amios  ptoapct>c-  pexactos  (Sofi'cgio  ueist^ogTatufctui;,  seb  etiattt 
tit  po:>tcrii))t  ^tvvluexsitatv  veati^ae  pe^  :>cnici^ia  ptu^zima  fut  ape^avuus] 
bu^ahirac  omnia  Faiota  cocopici.      '^aieic. 

*3)al'uin  CaM^taSt^igiae 
STCenoia  ^i/t-v^ii  bie  gua/rlo 


A.  S.   MDCCCXCVl. 


[     SEAL     j 

266 


[university  of  christiania] 

^t-yi'ivezc^'i  I'a  [' i    tT t i  nee ton^ic m^ i 

vnooc  ati^picati^^tnto  bie  a.  b.  XI   Ipaf.  9tou.  \\.  a. 
tc-Hci-tc r  inatiqiircin bae 

s.  ^:b.  '-d. 

Scuclt'lt^. 

£ite^a»  vedtzoi*,  cmi&u;3  ivvbicato  j'ore  nt  incfvjttuvv  illiib 
coxXcaiuvn  iituza'ci^i'm,  auoh  pe^  cc-ntu-m-  c^  au.ino'U-agi-Hta  ati- 
i4^o:>  honozi?ic&ntiA:>irm  in  vcitta  cvvU^ate  |fct^ui/t,  vmttc  mvi- 
vetaitati^  tiotivciv  bigvtitate'Wt^auc  \vcx,w<:\i>calu,X'  ^aeto  atiUno 
accepti4'iu*.  Stavtv  c^u.O'VnMXA  a6  CLiivc^icauo  o^^e,  pattia  nos- 
tra pet  Da^ta  atgtic  i^ttvH-eii^a  nxaz'\i>  ct  ulaxiitu  ivi-tetvavva 
5cpaijetiii^,  tai licit  oi4tivc:>  acabei44lae,  ow-ae  ■ti-Oeiiaviou^:>  <xzXi\yu^ 
eo^cofevwbt^  ptovnovevvbi^aw^e  opetattv  itaua-ii-t,  awiozc^  c|ua.^i 
Acvtorio  colVad^cnf"  ct  ita  ft/Mni^  -ulM-ct^-ti^  ivttex  i>e  coM^tiviewtu^, 
tit  -uGstra  ptoi>pcra  lviczc%'nii\via  fiono^CM^^e  aucced^w^  iio^  C|ito- 
gue  ttici:^ito  cotigi^atu/tevniH^t,  pi  a  ca;  anii^w  jic-H'tevvti-a  uota 
ttintcitpci jvtc^  lit  ucattac  ito-uac  witi-uc^Mtat"!  tcnebicai^  '2)cti5 
Optimum  SHCaa^i-Hiii:?. 

^aGcwiiia  ©l^tlattaiiiac  bic  II  nicn^i.> 
Octo&ri^  MDCCCLXXXXVI. 

0.  £..  §cl'iiotr.         §.  Obfcinb.  m.  a.ivptab.         e,.  (^ufbGcrg. 

£.  9&.  S-ten^e-taci'i.  o^v.  Coitett. 


267 


[  UNIVERSITY    OF   COPENHAGEN  ] 


o 


the   tonwezditi/  of  Jo>zlnceton. 

ohe  tbtiivetdlh/  of  (jopenkagen  be^d  Leave  to  thank  the 
Jjtinceton  tbnlveidity  tnodt  heattili/  fot  the  honot  confetted 
upon  it  bi/  the  highlif  coniplitnentati/  invitation  teceived  ftom 
the  (Dommittee  of  the  &ejcfuicentennial  (jclebtation,  cJt 
would  have  been  a  gteat  datidf action  to  the  Ihnivcxdity  of 
(bopenhagen  to  have  been  able  to  tahe  part  in  the  celebration 
by  dendincj  a  representative ;  but  the  time  appointed  for  the  fes- 
tival rendering  this  unfottunateli/  impoddibUf  we  must  content 
ourselves  with  sending  our  best  greetings  and  congratulations, 
expressing  at  the  same  time  the  sincere  wish  that  our  sister 
Lhniverdity  of  J^rinceton  mag  flourish  and  thrive  in  future, 
as  it  has  done  hitherto,  a  benefit  and  a  glorij  to  its  country 
as  well  as  to  (sfcience  and  (Scholarship  in  general, 

(d  open  hag  en,  am  arch,   i8q6. 

cHd.  Cj.  ^eiitheti, 

ax)ector  of  the  H.bnivetdtty, 


268 


[  UNIVERSITY    OF    DUBLIN  ] 


f  iris  31lnstrissiini5  IlDrtissiniis 

'pmWi  CnratnrilinH  '|<^rnfrssnrilms 

Cnlkgii  IrnrarsaripMis 

Iniufote  Diililinriisis  |.  f . 


icnt-  uocac't'i^  gaubii,  atio  ccntc^i^^^^un^  atiincittaqc^ji- 

ai^obquc  al'iqi4  0i>  e  n^o^yt^o  coctu  u^viia-vi^tiy  qui  ^o;5- 
pil'io  vni^tto  in  occa^io^e  -tai4i^  ^ae^:a  ^zua^niuz^  ib  ^aym 
-pcrq^a^'ti^'Viv  i^to6i;>  Civt,  q^tal^taeiquc  uel'  4)iacc-l'H4ai>  uofii^ 
aaivnu':> ;  o-H^nia  lait.it'a  -uolji;>  ^pzccan^d^  -non  ^-otwy^ 
ivi  |e;>i^u-H't  aitob  achizi  c^iH^,  vctwyyi  Ut  oi4i4ae  t:c-j44-p'W-i> 
opfantci^que,  c^Anui  \it  copula  ;>a^qui4iii>,  ai^nlci^'iac, 
eihibio-tui^t  quae  inict  v[g:>  inl'c/tcebil'  L^c^jipct;  it^upta 
,  -vnai4cat,  114414 to  ^\z^4vioz  i-M  alt14o^  It  at". 

,tlult&ttOttl  v^Aza^  won  po^K^w-14t^ii^  quiit  oS^cat^ai^tttt-t,  i^eo- 
que  b«^igwa1>it44tl.^  9lo ue-t ttii^n-  ^^Jeiue'ttoi^  "^ti-i:^- 

oL-i-t-t.  tD.,  -uito^  pto&o.>,  b^oct'o.'*,  ^pco{■at■Oi>,  qtii  coza-HA. 
te^ifuxintuz-  ct'uavit'iitt4  <^al^biu^^^  ex  -uc^t'ti^  ^Uczicy 
pc'tcepc'tii4-tui>,  miot  uoi4a  ^t4tit)et^i>i^:ati  '^ziwcd^oni- 
at4ae  itt  ^iA^MZxAWX  i<2Awcyu:>  et  v<itvn\u^  e^"  auq'U'tei4i44.'&. 

3'l0i>^C,  Sattceffarin:>. 
16°  9TtaU,  1896.  (^coTijiui  Sa^vioM,  IJraepoiiittt^i*. 


269 


[  UNIVERSITY   OF   EDINBURGH  ] 
To 

The  PRESIDENT  and   PROFESSORS  of  the 

UNIVERSITY   of   PRINCETON. 

lanivcrsitB  of  EOtnburgb, 
31st  3ulB  IS96. 

car  an&  1f3onourc&  Colleagues, 

St  Is  witb  no  orMnar^  feelings  of  pribe  an&  sxjmpatb? 
tbat  we  offer  ^ou  our  beartg  congratulations  on  tbe  auspicious  occa= 
sion  of  viour  I50tb  acabeniic  JSirtb&aii,  an5  on  vour  bigbl\?  merite!) 
promotion  from  tbe  ranh  of  a  College  to  tbat  of  a  'Qluiversitg. 

Me  bave  ever  fouM?  regar5eC>  tbe  College  of  IHew  Jerse?  as  a  near  Scottish 
Cousin,  nav?,  almost  as  a  cbilD  of  our  own.  Iber  bistor?  an&  traMtions,  e&ucational, 
pbilosopbical,  an&  religious,  bare  ever  been  closelv  allied  to  ours ;  anb  from  ber 
foundation  bg  mcnibers  of  tbe  presbsterg  of  IHew  l!)orh  down  to  tbe  present  dav 
manv  of  ber  leading  men  bave  been  eitber  of  Scottisb  CEtraction  or  alumni  of 
Scottisb  'Glni versifies— suffice  it  to  mention  tbe  illustrious  names  of  president 
Mitberspoon  in  tbe  last  centuri\  and  ipresident  /ID'Cosb  in  tbe  present.  HI* 
tbougb  as  a  'Qlniversitv  we  are  entirelv  undenominational,  we  catuiot  refrain 
from  CEpressing  our  warm  admiration  of  i^our  College  as  a  cbampion  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty,  a  sacred  cause  for  wbicb  man?  of  our  common  ancestors 
laid  down  tbeir  lives. 

Me  most  gladlv  recognise  tbe  fact  tbat  ^our  College  bas  for  man?  pears  past 
performed  all  tbe  functions  of  a  XHniversitv  witb  signal  success.  Me  rejoice  to 
bear  of  tbe  furtber  expansion  of  \)our  Scbool  of  pbilosopbp,  of  tbe  admirable 
equipment  of  i^our  Scbool  of  Science,  and  of  tbe  bandsome  endowments  wbicb 
american  liberality  and  public  spirit  bave  placed  at  pour  disposal.  Me  tberef  ore 
beartilp  welcome  vou  now  as  a  SisterslUniversits— tbe  XHniversitp  of  Princeton— 
born,  /IDinerva=lifte,  so  fullp  and  splendidly  accoutred  as  to  entitle  ber  at  once  to 
rani;  among  tbe  foremost  of  ber  elder  sisters. 

/iDav  (Bod  abundantlv  bless  and  prosper  pou  in  pour  beneficent  career,  and 
mav  llje  bind  tbe  Scottisb  cousins  of  tbe  ©Id  Morld  and  tbe  Bew  ever  more  closelp 
in  tbe  bonds  of  esteem  and  affection ! 

5n  name  and  bv  autboritv  of  tbe  Senatus  academicus  of  tbe  "Clniversitp  of 
jEdinburgb. 


/ — \  W.  MUIR,  Principal. 

J.  KIRKPATRICK,  Secretary. 


I      SEAL      j 

270 


[university   of   GLASGOW] 

[  Telegram^ 


Glasgow,  Oct.  12,  1896. 

President  Patton, 

University,  Princeton,  N.  J. 

Glasgow  University  heartily  congratulates 

Princeton  University.   Deeply  regret  that  work 

here  prevents  any  member  of  Senate  attending 

celebration. 

Principal  Caird. 


271 


[university  of  gottingen] 

UNIVERSITATI  PRINCETONIENSI 

OLIM  COLLEGIO  ■  NEOCAESARIENSI 

NOBILI  ■  ORNAMENTO    MAGNI  ■  AMERICANORUM  •  POPULl 

CONIUNCTI  •  NOSTRAE  •  ACADEMIAE  ■  PER  •  AMICITIAM 

A   PATRIBUS  ■  TRADITAM   TRADENDAM  ■  POSTERIS 

QUEM  ■  FLORENTEM    ET  •  IN    DIES   CRESCENTEM  ■  VARIA  ■  BONARUM  •  ARTIUM  ■  LAUDE 

LUBENTES  •  SUSPICIMUS   ET  ■  CONSALUTAMUS 

LATE   LUCENTIS   LITTERARUM  •  FACIS  •  IN  •  PARVULO  ■  OPPIDO  •  GESTATRICI 

QUEMADMODUM  ■  NOS   QUOQUE  ■  RURALEM  ■  FERE   SECESSUM  •  LAUDAMUS 

ET  ■  OTIUM  •  LITTERIS  ■  APTIUS 

SODALI  ■  NOSTRAE  •  ATQUE  •  AEQUALI  •  IN  ■  STUDIIS  ■  COLENDIS 

CONSILIORUM   VITAE   ET   CONDICIONIS  •  ADFINITATE  •  ETIAM  •  IN  ■  DIVERSA  •  ORBIS   REGIONE 

POSITIGAUDENTES 

TERTIASEMISAECULARIAFELICITER  AGENDA 

EX  •  ANIMO  ■  CONGRATULAMUR 

NOVA  •  SAECULA  •  BONAE  •  ERUGIS  •  PLENA  •  AUGURAMUR 

UNIVERSITATI  •  FAUSTA •  OMNIA •  UT ■  COLLEGIO  EVENERUNT 

AUCTIORA  ■  COMPRECAMUR 

UNIVERSITATISGEORGIAEAUGUSTAE 
PRORECTOR  ET  SENATUS 


DABAMUS   GOTTINGAE  •  DIE  •  IV    MENSIS   MARTII    AD-  MDCCCXCVI  • 

L.  BAR. 


272 


[university  of  greifswald] 

VNIVERSITATIS 
LITTERARVM  GRYPHISWALDENSIS 

RECTOR  ET   SENATVS 

COLLEGII  NEOCAESARIENSIS 

PRAESIDI    CVRATORIBVS    PROFESSORIBVS 
SALVTEM    PLVRIMAM    DICVNT 

quo  maiore  iam  floruit  tempore  viri  illustrissimi  et  doctissimi 
academia  nostra  eo  magis  gaudemus  sororibus  eius  iuuioribus 
non  solum  in  Grermania  natis  verum  etiam  in  ceteris  terns 
bonae  enim  litterae  firmissimum  sunt  vinculum  quo  inter  se 
coniunguntur  omnes  nationes  pie  igitur  atque  ex  intimo  animo 
vobis  gratulamur  et  gratias  habemus  quam  maximas  quod 
comiter  voluistis  ut  unus  e  collegio  nostro  festissimos  eos  dies 
vobiscum  celebraret  quibus  collegium  Neocaesariense  uno  iam 
saeculo  peracto  in  novam  universitatem  Princetoniensem  sit 
rite  transiturum  nimium  dolemus  locorum  spatium  qui  inter- 
iecti  sunt  inter  vestras  nostrasque  regiones  quia  hoc  solum 
nos  impedit  quominus  suari  illi  invitationi  obsequium  demus 
valete  nobisque  favete. 

PAULUS  GRAWITZ, 

h.  t.  Rector  Academiae. 

I      SEAL      J 

273 


[university   of    HALLE  ] 
QVOD  BONVM   FELIX  FAVSTVMQVE  SIT 

INCLVTAE  VNIVERSITATI  LITTERARVM 

PRINCETONIENSI 

QVAE   CVM  ANNO   SVPEEIOBIS  SAECTXI  QVADRAGESDIO  SEXTO 

HOMINVM   EGREGIORVM  SAPIENTISSIMO   CONSILIO  CONDITA  ESSET 

VT  AETIVM  LIBERALIVM   STVDIVM  OMNIBVS  MODIS  FOVERET  AC   PROPAGARET 

HVIO  NOBrLISSEMO   ET   CVM   SALVTE  TOTIVS  REIPVBLICAE  ARCTISSIME   CONEXO  OFFICIO   SVO 

NVNQVAM  DEPVIT 

ADIVTA  CVM  MVLTORVM  VIRORVM  LIBERALITATE  QVI   VARUS  DONIS  ET  INSTITVTIS 

EAM   INSTRVXERVNT   ET   EXORNAVERVNT 

TVM  VERO  LIBERTATE  DOCENDI  DISCENDIQVE  QVI  VT   AB  IPSIS  CONDITORIBVS  EI 

CONCESSA   ERAT   ITA  VSQVE  AD   HODIERNVM   DIEM   SEMPER   INCOLVMIS  MANSIT 

QVARE  PER  TRIGINTA  QVAE  ELAPSA  SVNT  LVSTRA  CVM  INDEPESSA  PRAECEPTORVM  ACADEMICORVM  CVRA 

ET   STVDIO  TVM  DEI  OPTmi  MAXIMI  GRATIA  ET  BENIGNITATE 

NOBILISSIMO   COLLEGU  NEOCAESARIENSIS  NOMINE  LAETISSIME  FLORVIT 

NVNC  VERO  VNIVERSITATIS  LITTERARVM  NOMEN  ET  DIGNITATEM  NACTA 

IN   EODEM    QVEM   HVCVSQVE  TENVIT  HONORIFICENTISSIMO   CVBSV  PERQERE  PERSEVERAT 

CVM   EXDVIIA  ET   IWENTVTIS  ACADEMICAE   ET   TOTIVS   REIPVBLICAE   VTILITATE 

SACRA  NATALICIA  SESQVISAECYLARIA 

DIE  XXII  MENSIS  OCTOBRIS  ANNI  MDCCCXCVI 

RITE  PEEAGENDA 

EX  ANIMI  SENTENTIA  GRATVLANTVR 

FIDEM  VOLVNTATEMQVE   SVAM  TESTANTVR 

PRO  SALVTE  ET   INCOLVMITATE  EIVS  PIA  VOTA  NVNCVPANT 

FAVSTA  FELICIA  FORTVNATA  OMNIA  PRECANTVR 

VNIVERSITATIS   FRIDERICIANAE   HALENSIS 

CVM  VITEBERGENSI  CONSOCIATAE 
RECTOR  ET  SENATVS 


EBERTH 

h.  t.  Rector 


274 


[university  of  Heidelberg] 


Der 


UNIVERSITAT  PRINCETON 

bringt 

zur  Feier  ihres 

Einhundert  und  Fiinfzigjalirigeii  Besteliens 

frolien  uiid  herzlichen  Gliickwunsch  dar 

die 

Ruperto-Carola  Altheidelbergs. 

Was  der  hohe  Sinn  und  die  Aufopferung  der  Vater  begriindet  haben,  das  haben  die 
jiingeren  Gesehlechter  sorgsam  bewahrt  und  treulich  ausgebaut.  So  ist  die  Universitat  Princeton 
eine  Hiiterin  der  Wissenschaft  und  ein  Hort  der  Kultur  jenseits  des  Oceans  geworden.  Moge 
sie  noeh  lange  bliihen  und  sich  kraftig  weiterentwickeln,  fiir  die  Jugend  eine  Quelle  edler 
Bildung,  fill-  den  Staat  eine  Zierde,  fiir  die  MenseKheit  ein  Segen.  Mit  diesem  Wunsche  griisst 
die  alteste  Universitat  Deutschlands  die  Universitat  Princeton,  mit  ihr  verbunden,  obwohl  durcli 
den  Ocean  von  ihr  getrennt,  durch  die  gleiche  Liebe  zur  Wissenschaft  und  die  gleiche  Arbeit 
an  den  hochsten  Giitem  des  Geistes. 

Prorektor  und  Senat 

der  Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat  Heidelberg. 

D'  H.  B.  BASSERMANN 

/(.  t.  prorector 


275 


[university  of  jena] 


■n'iyU'e4^.'Clci/  ^e-n-a. 


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/^^   Lyl'a.■yyl.e■t^   u-t^ei  GtUf'Cia^   teed    '^'e.'nefCed   i/ei    ^(^■n.-Mie'ld t^<i^ 
de^-na  /a/e  tc/  t/te-   (§4te,   o^t  t/Zud/^eo-i  PRINCETON   UNIVER- 
SITY 'T.u^.   L^etei.  ■<^d   Cya-aed^  €<'n   ttei-n-  dte  -uo-i  -isei  ^eiA'te-yi.  -t-i^  <zt-e 
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tui'i-ndcfze   <iu4. 


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ctce  ^y^tdileiaacA-ajift  ■iA'le  ^^-te-Ce  f<i4.ae'ii :  «z^«  ^'^te-Ce  de-tiie-t  dt'yuz 
■ii^e'lei-C-C  et-te   -a-Ce /.-cne-n   tfyitt    ^e-i'Ut'Piae-n   fi-i^    G4nQftM€-iev-e-nae'tt   'i.ii 

J^^'me^tdidc^aj^  eijcti'Cci,  d^eAtne'}^  ■tft't  <ie'yi  -uxeid-i^d-te-i^  C'i-n.'l-net'i 
adi  t^-m.  Su/e-i&^d/e  i/e^  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY  u^t/  /et/em^ 
ed-yi^   ^-t<zdd   ed   ttitd   ■u-n-M^a^'itcA^    ■uta-t^  ^e-idod^-tic-n   ■ae'l  j/^l^Midtit-t.c-ned^ 

Cm^i.'i  ^ze■^t^  .i^eidi-A-ce  d'Co-C^i.et  QOejC-ife^t^wyi-a.  Hetdt-n  </t-e  PRINCE- 
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276 


[university   of   KIEL] 

RECTOR  ET  CONSISTORIVM 

VNIVERSITATIS    KILIENSIS 

PRAESIDI    CVRATORIBVS   PROFESSORIBVS 

VNIVERSITATIS  PRINCETONIENSIS 

S 


QVAS  ANTE  HOS  SEX  MENSES  AD  NOS  DEDISTIS  LITTERAS  HONESTISSIMAS 
ACCEPIMVS    GRATO    ET    PROPENSO    PERLEGIMVS    ANIMO 

ETENIM  SICVT  APVD  GRAECOS  ANTIQVITVS  EVM  MOREM  OBTINVISSE  CONSTAT 
VT  IN  AMICORVM  ET  AFFINIVM  POPVLORVM  FESTIS  SOLLEMNIBVS  RITE  CELEBRANDIS 
PER  THEOROS  OFFICIOSE  DELECTOS  SE  REPRAESENTARI  CVRARENT  ITA  VOS  HVMA- 
NISSIME  NOS  INVITASTIS  AD  VNVM  EX  COLLEGIS  NOSTRIS  DELEGANDVM  QVI  SACRIS 
SESQVISAECVLARIBVS  AB  ACADEMIA  VESTRA  FELICITER  INSTAVRANDIS  NOMINE 
NOSTRAE    VNIVERSITATIS    INTERESSET 

VERVMTAMEN  CVM  FIERI  NEQVEAT  VT  AD  HANG  HOSPITALEM  INVITATIONEM 
PROMITTAMVS  QVAE  PER  LEGATVM  TRADERE  NON  LICET  LITTERIS  MANDANDA 
ESSE  CONSTITVIMVS  BONA  VOTA  PRO  ACADEMIAE  VESTRAE  PROSPERITATE  SALVTE 
DIVTVRNITATE 

CVM  DECREVERITIS  QVOD  lAM  PER  TRIGINTA  LVSTRORVM  SPATIVM  FLORVIT 
HVCVSQVE  COLLEGIVM  NEOCAESARIENSE  AD  VNIVERSITATIS  PRINCETONIENSIS  DIG- 
NITATEM PROMOVERE  FESTI  QVI  INSTANT  DIES  GRATIAE  PIAEQVE  RECORDATIONI 
PRAETERITORVM  PARITER  AC  FVTVRORVM  TEMPORVM  LAETAE  BONAEQVE  SPEI 
SACRI    ERVNT 

ITAQVE  ACADEMIAE  VESTRAE  VT  DE  LONGA  CVRSVS  STRENVE  ET  EFFICACITER 
ABSOLVTI  CONTINVITATE  GRATVLAMVR  ITA  SIMVL  SPERAMVS  IPSAM  ETIAM  IN 
POSTERVM  AC  PER  MVLTOS  FELICESQVE  ANNOS  BONARVM  ARTIVM  LITTERARVM 
SCIENTIARVMQVE  HVMANIORVM  FVTVRAM  ESSE  SANCTAM  SEDEM  ET  DOMICILIVM 
INCOLVME 

QVOD  VT  FELICITER  EVENIAT  FAVSTISSIMA  QVAEQVE  OPTAMVS  PRECAMVRQVE 
VNIVERSITATIS  PRINCETONIENSIS  RECENS  NATAE  ET  DISCENTIBVS  ET  DOCENTIBVS 
VT  IN  QVOVIS  ET  DOCTRINAE  ET  HVMANITATIS  GENERE  HI  EXEMPLO  PRAEEVNTES 
AEMVLANTES  ILLI  MEMORES  VTRIQVE  VIRTVTIS  MAIORVM  ET  ANTECESSORVM  NVN- 
QVAM  DESINATIS  SERERE  VT  AIT  STATIVS    ARBORES    QVAE  ALTERI  SAECVLO  PROSIENT 


VALETE  - 


DABAMVS  KILIAE 
IDIBVS  SEPTEMBRIBVS 
A.  D.  MDCCCLXXXXVI  K^  DR.  L.  POCHHAMMER 

STELLVERTRETENDER   RECTOR   DER    UNIVERSITAT   KIEL 

277 


[university  of  konigsberg] 
QVOD  •  BONVM  •  FELIX  •  FAVSTVM  •  FORTVNATVMQVE  •  SIT 


INCLVTAE 

YNIVERSITATI  •  PRINCETONENSI 

PAVSTISSMIS  •  AVSPICIIS 

ANTE  •  HOS  •  CENTVM  •  QVINQVAGINTA  •  ANNOS 

CONDITAE 

DOCTORVM  •  ILLVSTRISSIMORVM  •  SPLENDIDIS  •  NOMINIBVS  •  AEQVE 
AC  ■  DISCIPVLORVM  •  PRAESTANTISSIMORVM  •  STVDIIS  •  ASSIDVIS 

INSIGNITAE 

OMNIGENAE  •  HVMANITATIS  •  ALTRICI  •  MODERATRICI  •  PROPAGATRICI 
VNIVERSAE  •  AMERICAE  •  DECORI  •  ATQVE  •  ORNAMENTO 

SACRA  •  SOLLEMNIA 

DIEBVS  •  XX  •  XXI  •  XXII  •  MENSIS  •  OCTOBRIS  •  ANNI  •  MDCCCLXXXXVI 

PIE  •  CELEBRANTI 

EX  •  ANIMI  •  SENTENTIA  •  GRATVLAMVR 

EIDEMQVE 

FORTVNAM  •  PROPITIAM 

SALVTEM  •  PERPETVAM 

GLORIAM  ■  SEMPITERNAM 

OPTAMVS 

VNIVERSITATIS  •  ALBEUTINAE  •  REGIMONTDJAE 

RECTOR  •  ET  •  SENATVS 
ET  ■  PROFESSORES  •  OMNIVM  •  ORDINVM 


REGIMONTII  ■  PRVSSOBVM 

EX  •  OFFICDJA  •  HARTV-NGIANA. 


278 


[university   of   LEIPZIG] 

PRAESIDI  CURATOEIBUS  PROFESSORIBUS 

COLLEGII  NEOCAESARIENSIS 

VIRIS  ILLUSTRISSIMIS  AC  DOCTISSIMIS 

S.  p.  D. 

UNIVERSITATIS  LIPSIENSIS  RECTOR  ET  SENATUS 


Q 


UONIAM  LITTERIS  PERHUMANITER  AD  UNIVERSITATEM  NOSTRAM  DATIS  GRATUM 
VOBIS  FORE  SIGNIFICAVISTIS  SI  COLLEGH  NEOCAESARIENSIS  ANTE  HOS  CENTUM  ET 
QUINQUAGINTA  ANNOS  CONDITI  lAM  NOVIS  AUSPICHS  IN  UNIVERSITATIS  PRINCETONIENSIS 
FORMAM  ET  DIGNITATEM  AMPLIFICANDI  SOLLEMNITATI  UNUM  EX  NOBIS  QUI  NOSTRO 
NOMINE  INTERESSET   DELIGEREMUS  MISIMUS  COLLEGAM  NOSTRAM 


FRIDERICUM  CAROLUM  BRUGMANN 

LINGUARUM  DTDOGERMANICARUM  PROFESSOKEM  PUBLICUM  ORDINAEIUM 

EUMQUE    lUSSBIUS    VOTORUM    NOSTRORUM     PIENTISSIMORUM     EXISTERE     INTERPRETEM 

NAM    INTEREST    MAGNOPERE    BONARUM    OMNIUM    UT    SCIENTIAE    LITTERARUMQUE 

STUDIA  PER  ORBEM  TERRARUM  QUAM  MAXTME  FLOREANT  ATQUE  VIGEANT 


/        \  Dk.  Ernst  Windisch 

SEAL 


h.  t.  Rector 


DATUM  LEPSIAE  DIE  I  MENSIS  OCTOBRIS  ANNO  MDCCCLXXXXVI 


279 


[university  of  leyden] 

CoUegio  i^eocaesariensi 

ajntt)cmtati0  lugDuno  Batabae  ^cnatujs 

^.  1.  B. 

Permagno  nos  nffccislis  lionorc  /  qiiob  nos  innitastis  /  ut  be  nostro  Scnatu  nno  pluribnstic 
Icgotis  missis  bobiscum  cclcbraremus  fcrins  /  quns  in  cnm  bicm  parotis  /qui  (iToUcgii  bcstri 
na talis  crit  tcntcsimns  quiiiquagcsimus  /  ibcnique  ^rimns  a  quo  iilnb  ampliore  atqnc  Ijouornliore 

^nt\)crs(tati£j  ^^rincetoniensis; 

nomine  ootnbilur.  (flJun  fitcultntc  a  nobis  obiuta  Inbcntissime  utcrcmnr  /  nisi  graoes  nos 
rctinercnt  cousac  /  be  qnibus  nntca  uos  fecimus  ceitioves.  (Ergo/ib  quob  ntinam  pracscnti- 
bns  faccre  liccrel  /  Ijiscc  i\i  bos  biUis  Uteris  significarc  uolnmus  ex  unimi  scntcntia  oobiscum 

nos  lactari. 

Pcrmogna  enim  est  Neocoesaricnsis  (HoUegii  npub  boctos  <J[l)cologos  praesertim /gloria. 
Ht  ex  inqenli  eorum  numcro/ qui  illustri  illi  fttusurum  scbi  becori  fncrnnt  ct  ornamcnto/ pan- 
cos  nomlnemns:  biflct  et  l]ic  et  alibi  terrarum  lans  lonatlnmis  (Ebroarbsii  qnem  CTalinnnm 
IVmcricanum  iure  bicnnt;  cuins/  licet  per  breuc  tautum  tcmpus  (lollcgio  Xeocuesariensi  prac- 
fuerit  /  lianb  bnbie  a  bobis  pie  colitur  memoria ;  multa  qnoqne  et  Ijonorute  et  Ijonorificc  be 
C)obgiis  /  patre  tilioque /bcquc  singulari  acnminclrtcobi  in'€osl)ii  pl)ilosopl)i  praebicarc  solemns. 

3ta  primnm  propter  magna  eius  in  bisciplinas  merita  (llollegium  bestrum  et  biligimus  ct 
abmiramur. 

Seb  accebnnt  aliac  amoris  caritatisqne  causae  ijaub  leuiores. 

(JUni  enim  bestri  (Eollegii  iecerunt  funbamenta  /  biri  cgregii  fortesqne,  in  mcntem  nobis 
patres  nostros  rcuocant/  qui  in  mcbia  flamma  belli  abuevsus  praepotcntes  crnbelesque  suscepti 
bominos  Qlcabcmiam  Cugbnno-Batauam  tamquum  tibertalis  arcem  conbibernnt.  (Quorum 
buK  atque  auspcx  ©uiliclmus  ille  ^rautiacus  /  daciturni  nomine  clarus  cum  totius  patriae  tum 
Eniuersitatis  nostrae  pater  ct  bicitnr  et  babetur.  Ignius  imago  Genaculum  nostrum  intran- 
tium  ocnios  prima  ^^h  se  conuertit:  Ijnnc  enim  abcssc  atque  praeessc  nostris  uolumus  belibcra- 
tionibus.  ^  quo  prognatus  ille  Cpuilielmus  /  qui  simul  b^rum  tcrrornm  praeses  et  \Xex  fnit 
JBrittanniae.  ®ui  in  quanto  apub  bos  sit  Ijonore  "^ulac  Massouicae  beclaratis  nomine /quam 
tamquam  aebem  Cibertatis  cxstrnitistis  in  qua  cue  excolcrenturbcfenberenturque  birtntcs/quae/ 
illo  patrono/  Brittanniae  lactam  plenamque  pracstantissimorum  bonornm  attulerunt  libertatem. 

Nos  ergo  bobis /si  non  sanguine  at  mentc  animoque  cognatos  putamus  /  et  pro  bobis/ 
tamquam  communis  cninsbam  patriae  ciuibus  /  nota  facimus  /  spcramusque  fore  ut  Itniuersitas 
bcstra  /  ex  praeclaro  ilio  nata  (lollegio  Neocaesariensi  crcscat  floreatque  /atque  esse  pergat/ 
ib  quob  collegium  illub  fuit  semper: 

berae  libertatis  propugnaculum  /  sanctac  religionis  praesibinm  /  \nx  biscipiinarnm. 

£ngb.  Bat.  ah  JD.bjJJ.  m.  ®ct'.  MfDCdOrXffibJ. 

0Mr®illaiiri),  ^.  €.  brccbc, 

StnatuB  attuarius.  3at:totjasaniaxujB. 

280 


[  UNIVERSITY   OF   LILLE  ] 

ACADEMIE    DE   LILLE 

CONSEIL    DE    l'UnIVERSITE 

Lille,   le  23  Juillet,  1896. 

Monsieur  le  President: 

L'Universite  de  Lille  a  ete  tres-touchee  de  I'invitation  que 
vous  lui  avez  adressee  en  vue  des  fetes  par  lesquelles  vous  allez 
celebrer  le  Sesquicentenaire  de  I'Universite  de  Princeton.  EUe 
eut  ete  heureuse  d'y  envoyer  un  representant  et  n'en  est  em- 
pechee  que  par  la  distance  si  grande  qui  separe  les  deux  villes. 
Du  moins  le  Conseil  de  notre  Universite  a-t-il  exprime  le  desir 
que  je  transmette  a  I'Universite  de  Princeton  ses  voeux  les  plus 
sinceres  de  prosperite.  J'ai  I'honneur  d'etre  aupres  de  vous 
I'interprete  de  ses  sentiments, 
et  je  vous  prie  d'agreer, 

Monsieur  le  President, 

I'assurance  de  ma  cordiale  confraternite, 

Le  President  du  Conseil  de  I'Universite, 

BAYET. 

Monsieur  le  President  de  I'Universite  de  Princeton. 


281 


[  UNIVERSITY   OF   LONDON  ] 

yittd  illudttiddiniid 

Jotaedidi  hwcatotibud  Jotofeddotloua 

(DoUegil  lb  eocaed  attend  id 

(Dancellatmd    srlce-iDanceLlatlud  ^enatua 

ihnwetditatid  Jaondinietidia 

^,  ^.  2). 


cv-uci*  a>e^l'tt  ivi  eo  efaCiotauctbit  ut  ab  ottnttui4t  attlutn  tiCiezafi  U4»t  ^hibla 
-oe^  ^ii'iX'\AAOX'<i  toco  wd/ti^  qu^aoi  ula  au-acha-v^^^  optii^e  tttiiitita  patcat. 
9tec[we  ue^o  apub  tJo>  ftDlba  oa'tpvt  o&ft-uvo  ttovHtiia  vt^oruvn  vel*  trana 

:>irvgiifart,  vc^jtxa^  auoc^^zu^n^t  opes,  hoctt^matn  prontoucn^4tt,  ^oti^ae  ^pcl 
abiiCc:>ceitliCm:>  aiH^o^ifiuMt^  tufe^wtvt.  9Iovv  paruo  igitut:.  vi<y>  affccit 
gaubio,  guob  ccztiozcy  wuipaz  facti  i>u^vnuo  Coiicgiuvn  'Oti^tzu^yn,  ioi  ptae- 
c^1ptc^zu.n^■  be  ontwi  ^c/rc  ct  anHgu^atuvM-  ct  ta-ce-yitiozu^^i  te.t.'wnv  ^octzl-na 
optiMic  tiicritortH^it,  tot  bocipiifo£ii-H4  -oc:>ttgii>  iffortivit  pzo^pe^o  ahccoiau, 
ivvgrcbievititim  Pattia  ivtu>>ttatw-wi.,  i4.tHttc  ab  ai»ipCtorc:>  in  i:cpii6fica 
tiiizzazuxM  honoz&o  ci>;>e  evectuvH  :    ib  gnob  pet  I'vatvc  epliitufaHv  voSki 

9te  tamzu.  i-yiinz  iot  om-nia  uobia  Janata  pzeca'nii^inx  uocea  ip:ii 
l^aceaiiiua,  cititi  v'lzo  vto6i^  :>pcciaio 

^o^>cpfto  ^ofiai4Me  '^^omc^on^ 
ocln-niiaa-  hocioze.  cHegiae  Soctetati>  ivocio, 

egt44vtH^;>  iit  ^ei^ii;>  De;3tro  abf^^h^^tl^  uoc>tzo  gitogiic  nonuMC  ■vo^  oatvzzc 
iw-oeat,  et  in^t  coepta  Do&i^  ovtmia  bemcepa  fot^twnet  ^eu<>  3vle  Optivnuo 
9'Ttaa::i.'H4-M^  ptecetitt. 

Qi^evn  i>l,  gita  c^H^  fiu-wia-vvitatc,  Sevi-igii-e  accvpietic^,  pezazatum 
noGi^  ^eceii^vtia. 

en-      ■    s\  u  p     p  Bioentii  O,  cJlDOdcoe 

"I/ice-Vi^avvcet-ta^i-ui. 
A.   S.   MDCCCXCVI. 

c/ .    yictot  JJtcklnd 

a&  actia. 

282 


[university   of   MOSCOW] 

[  Telegram  ] 


Moscow,  le  12  Octobre,  1896. 

Universite  de  Princeton,  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

L'Universite  Imperiale  de  Moscow  felicite  cordiale- 
ment  1' Universite  de  Princeton  sur  le  centcinquantieme 
anniversaire  de  son  existence  civilisatrice.  Vivat  Uni- 
versitas,  vivant  professores  et  studiosi. 


RECTEUR    NEKRASSOFF. 


283 


[university    of    MUNICH] 

PRAESIDI    CURATORIBUS    PROFESSORIBUS 
COLLEGII     NEOCAESARIENSIS 

VIRIS   ORNATISSIMIS   DOCTISSIMIS   HUMANISSIMIS 

RECTOR     ET     SENATUS 

a 

UNIVERSJTATIS   LUDOVICO-MAXIMILIANEAE    MONACENSIS 

S.  P.  D. 


X  litteris  Vestris,  quibiis  sacra  sollemnia  Collegii  Neocaesariensis  abhinc  centum 
quinquaginta  annos  conditi  mense  Octobri  huius  anni  concelebratum  u-i 
annuntiavistis,  magnam  cepimus  laetitiam.  Cognovimus  enim  Vos  plane  idem 
ac  DOS  sentire,  omnes  omnium  gentium  humanitate  excultarum  Universitates  uno  quodam 
societatis  vinculo  contineri  ideoque,  quidquid  sive  laeti  sive  adversi  uni  earum  acciderit, 
id  ceteras  ad  se  quoque  pertinere  arbitrari.  Nee  fefellit  Vos  opinio,  quam  de  nostra 
adversus  Collegium  Vestrum  concepistis  voluntate.  Nam  et  ex  animi  sententia  Vobis 
gratiilamur,  quod  schola  Vestra  triginta  lustra  felicissime  peregit  et  nunc  tanta  auctoritate 
floret,  ut  opibus  aucta  mox  ampliorem  campum  vario  doctrinarum  generi  praebitura  sit, 
et  officii  ducimus  dies  festos,  quos  agetis,  piis  votis  prosequi.  Cui  sollemnitati  quod 
magno  opere  optastis  ut  unus  e  numero  nostro  delegatus  intersit,  gratias  Vobis  agimus 
maximas,  sed  vehementer  dolemus,  quod invitationi  Vestrae  benignae  hospitalique  satisfacere 
nemini  nostrum  per  anni  tempestatem  ac  muneris  academici  rationes  concessum  erit. 
Faxit  autem  Deus  Optimus  Maximus,  ut  quae  trans  Oceanum  nova  existet  Universitas 
Princetoniensis  laeta  capiat  incrementa,  studiosae  iuventuti  saluti,  rei  publicae  ornamento 
futura!    Valete. 

Dabamus  Monachii  a.  d.  Kal.  XII  Maias  anni  MDCCCXCVI. 

284 


[university  of  oxford] 

Coiieoii  zficoca-cc^<xzicyi^i6- 

s.  ±  ^. 

auibckuattt  vvooi^  tucw^n^oivta  caoe potest  cjvtat4v  Caetitioe  ■vofi'cac  pa,zte.v\^  capc^joere  e^: 
fc^tu^M^  bicti^  Do6t^cui4t  t  witatt^a^c,  cj^uo  prwi-u^nt,  poat  at^tno^  CL  icilcitcc  cx-acio:> 

9Xitnt^uiit  ^ae^^ia  an-:>picti^  fu-nbatore;>  i>edt^i  tot  a&^Viiic  avun-v^  CoCfcaii 

u^vn-^z^acu^ia  co^foca-oc tw-wt :  cjwo  i vv  ^yc-cc^ou  oppoztwniiyiiu^a  9'Tltt5t;>  :>ebe3,  iiotja 
acbit'ictoi^W'Ht  bioviomecax-u-VH  acfiolaiM^-kH  accei>Aione  iti-bicA  aba^^cta,  abco  ivi-  oMtni 
boctzi'M.i,  i-H-  tfieofogia,  iti  ocientia  pftt^cMca  ptofecit  ttt  p{ti<>ai^aM4  -ulgi-in^tt  CoffcaUa 
anac>i  d^nta-Ht  iTItal'i^cii^^  ac  vvuXz-icuwi  ae  p^aeatltet^it. 

9toA  iait-uz  Occoitic-noeiy,  c^wifewo  antlc[mi>5it44avn  ottgi/nei4i  ct  perpefcita^^^  cfa^oz^wi'Vt 
attlv^^^^^oz.u,yn  mticnt  laciazc  :><i\viipc^x-  cozo'v  eat,  gratw-fatriotvca  uo6i»  avvi-kHo  p^open;3i2>3ii4i, 
ptaet<2-n^i^ni.4i>,  Clcabci4i^iac  ucatt^aete^-HpeAti-vawt^iviatu^Tttate-kH  aciWAye^WvicvH  t;iqorcitt  tiftt^ 
abw\ita\\ici.    Q,\M,^iii>  i>p^^a^^^,^Ai>  ^^l  wwKuit  now  btcc>  opta(jtf<i  \\\cz<i\MQ.nlun\  ait  abfatti-Tu; 
Qua  propter  uoI'vHvtatl  ue^attac  tl6cvvtc^o€»acc>utimca^luvn  bc^cgaajint.ua-ut^w.144  pracatawtcti 
Sbua^b-M--Hi.  XouUon,  Sooiogiae  Xzofeaao^ewt-,  Socletati  Siegiae  abac^iptvci'U,  wt  Ge-m-avio 
^oapvtio  accept-ua  aaCvttcnt   Dobia   ii44pertiat  ptiH/rvm-a-m.   et  pfe-niaatiiiai4t. 
eJCtilc  covHitcnt  abbibt^nwa  ox-Matiaai-VM^u-M^t  ui^tmi  So{b-uivM^v»4  Swiitfv,  So^Cegii  *^ni-u. 
apwb  ttoaoMvtt  oociut^i  et  eliiato^tac  2)lLobei^nae  t^oPcaaoi^evn  cHeglunt,  guetit  gu-ibent 
i/ubica-vnw^   Dooia   fvcm^b   -nainua    notw^nt   eaae   ataue   ctviM'CU/m  au^ani  vvo6ia  ip>ia. 

^atu.-H4  i-n-  5)ovtto  Mostz-a  (BoH-uocatioviia  bie 
noHo  vM-enaia  ^u^vi-ii  A.  S.  MDCCCXCVI. 

(     SEAL     ) 

285 


[the   OWENS   COLLEGE,   VICTORIA    UNIVERSITY] 

THE  OWENS  COLLEGE, 

Manchester,  March  6,   1896. 
Sir: 

I  had  the  honour,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  Victoria 
University  held  yesterday,  to  lay  before  it  the  kind  and  gratifying 
invitation  of  the  Princeton  University  Sesquicentennial  Celebra- 
tion Committee,  transmitted  at  your  instance  by  His  Excellency 
the  Ambassador  of  the  United  States. 

The  Council  of  the  Victoria  University  requests  me  to  thank 
the  Committee  for  the  honour  which  this  invitation  confers  upon 
the  Victoria  University,  and  to  assure  the  Committee  of  the  in- 
terest here  taken  in  the  forthcoming  jubilee  of  so  celebrated  and 
distinguished  a  seat  of  learning.  The  Council  of  the  Victoria 
University  has  further  requested  me  to  appoint  a  representative 
of  this  University  at  the  celebration,  in  accordance  with  the  kind 
invitation  of  your  Committee,  should  it  prove  the  case  that  any 
member  of  our  body  the  choice  of  whom  would  be  acceptable  to 
your  Committee  should  be  able  to  attend.  Unfortunately,  the 
latter  part  of  October  is  one  of  the  most  busy  seasons  of  our 
academical  year.  I  will  take  care  to  transmit  to  you  before  long 
the  name  of  a  representative,  should  it  be  in  my  power;  and  I 
beg  you  in  any  event  to  accept  my  assurance  of  the  interest 
which  will  be  here  felt  in  the  Sesquicentennial  Celebration  in 
which  your  Committee  has  so  courteously  invited  a  representa- 
tive of  this  University  to  take  part. 

I  remain.  Sir, 

Your  faithful  servant, 

A.  W.  WARD, 
Vice-Chancellor  of  the  Victoria  University. 

To  the  Hon.  Secretary, 

Princeton  University  Sesquicentennial  Celebration  Committee. 


286 


[university    of   PADUA  ] 


Universitati  Princetoniensi 

universitas  patavina 


ctJq 


S.  p.  D. 


uos  dies  post  exactum  centesimum  et  quinquagesimum  annum,  ex  quo 

Collegium  Neocaesariense  conditum  est,  Illustres  Doctissimique  Viri, 

novam    UNIVERSITATEM    PRINCETONIENSEM    inaugurantes 

et  festos  habendos  et  rite  concelebrandos  iure  optimo  instituistis,  nos, 

Patavinae  Universitatis  antistites,  Vestrarum  laudum   memoriam  recolentes  laetis- 

simos  agemus. 

Plurima  quidem  studiosorum  hominum  societatibus  inter  se  communia  sunt : 
aequi  verique  inquisitio,  docendi  discendique  libertas,  voluntatum  consiliorumque 
consensio,  clarorum  liberaliumque  virorum  memoria.  Itaque  haec  Universitas,  quae 
diutinae  aut  ab  externa  dominatione  vix  interceptae  aut  demum  recuperatae  liberta- 
tis  iura  constantissime  exsequuta  suo  munere  functa  est,  maximo  opere  laetatur  in  ea 
orbis  terrarum  parte,  quae  ab  Italiae  alumno  Christophoro  Colombo  divinitus  detecta 
hominibusque  monstrata  est,  insignem  studiorum  Sedem  exstitisse,  in  qua,  libertatis 
firmo  praesidio,  vera  exquirantur  mentesque  iuvenum  disciplinis  optimis  erudiantur. 

Quodetsi,  tanto  maris  spatio  interiecto,  eo  anni  tempore,  quo  praeteriti  studiorum 
cursus  finis  cum  novi  initio  congruit,  aliquis  ex  nobis  vicarius  delegari  non  potest,  qui 
gratulationes  nostras  votaque  praesens  Vobis  exhibeat,  tamen,  quum  nullis  propemo- 
dum  finibus  humani  animi  sensus  circumscripti  sint,  date  nobis,  Praestantissimi  Viri, 
vt  festis  iis  diebus  in  mentibus  Vestris  illud  insideat,  nos  et  absentes  summae  laetitiae 
Vestrae  ex  animo  interfuturos  esse. 

Hae  vero  litterae  nostra  referant  vota  certioresque  Vos  faciant  exoptare  nos,  ut 
nova  UNIVERSITAS  PRINCETONIENSIS  apud  validissimas  gentes,  quae  ex 
Europa  in  longinquae  telluris  sinum  sua  actae  virtute  iamdiu  civilibus  artibus  omni- 
umque  rerum  investigationi  se  dediderint,  celeberrimarum  Universitatum  gloriam 
adsequatur  insignique  aemulatione  earum  rerum  cognitionem  augeat,  quae  decori 
usuique  hominibus  sint,  quibusque  eorum  animi  artius  inter  se  vinciantur. 

Patavii,  d.  XX  Octobris,  A.  MDCCCXCVI. 

EX  SENATUS  ACADEMICI   AUCTORITATE 


(     SEAL      I 


KAROLUS  F.  FERRARIS, 

RECTOR  MAGNIFICUS. 


287 


[  UNIVERSITY   OF   PARIS  ] 


(      SEAL      j 


A  MONSIEUR  LE  RECTEUR 
A  MESSIEURS   LES   CURATEURS  ET  PROFESSEURS 

DE 

L'UNIVERSITE   DE  PRINCETON 

Messieurs, 

'Universite  de  Princeton  a  pris  place  parmi  les 
grandes  universites  americaines,  qui  savent,  tout  en 
demeurant  fideles  a  leurs  traditions,  satisfaire  aux 
exigences  nouvelles  de  la  science  et  accomplir 
des  progres  chaque  jour.  Elle  travaille  en  toute  liberte,  regie  par 
elle-meme ;  elle  doit  a  la  sagesse  de  son  Conseil,  au  zele  et  a  la 
generosite  de  ses  maitres,  de  ses  disciples  et  de  ses  amis  I'admi- 
rable  developpement  de  ces  dernieres  annees.  Elle  est  aujourd'hui 
une  ecole  de  science  universelle. 

En  un  siecle  et  demi,  vous  avez  fait  une  ceuvre,  qui,  par- 
tout  ailleurs,  aurait  demande  plusieurs  siecles.  Et  votre  avenir  ne 
peut  manquer  d'etre  heureux  et  brillant.  Les  Etats-Unis  d'Ame- 
rique  reussissent  dans  tout  ce  qu'ils  entreprennent.  Apres  avoir 
cree  un  peuple  avec  des  elements  divers ;  apres  avoir  concilie,  dans 


288 


leurs  institutions  et  leurs  moeurs  la  democratie  avec  la  liberte, 
I'autonomie  des  Etats,  des  Communes,  des  Corps  et  des  individus 
avec  I'unite  nationale ;  apres  avoir  acquis,  par  I'effort  de  tant  d'ac- 
tivites  energiques,  une  eclatante  prosperite  materielle,  ils  entrant 
en  concurrence  avec  I'Europe  dans  le  domaine  tout  entier :  theolo- 
gie,  philosophie,  philologie,  science,  histoire,  esthetique.  C'est  pour 
nous  un  sujet  particulier  d'admiration  de  voir  la  jeune  Amerique 
s'appliquer  si  heureusement  a  I'etude  des  premieres  civilisations  du 
vieux  continent.  Deja  on  peut  se  demander  s'il  ne  viendra  pas  un 
jour  ou  I'etudiant  europeen  traversera  I'Atlantique  pour  trouver 
reunis  en  abondance  les  moyens  detudier  la  Grece  et  Rome,  qui 
furent  les  institutrices  de  I'Europe. 

Messieurs,  cette  activite  intellectuelle  est  une  dignite,  c'est 
aussi  une  force  de  plus  pour  votre  pays.  Voici  que  les  representants 
des  corps  scientifiques  du  monde  entier  sont  venus  apporter  leur 
hommage  a  la  science  americaine  en  la  personne  de  votre  Universite. 
Mais  laissez-nous  vous  dire  que  nous  avons  des  raisons  speciales 
de  nous  rejouir  des  honneurs  qui  vous  sont  rendus.  Vous  avez  bien 
voulu  rappeler,  dans  I'invitation  adresse  a  I'Universite  de  Paris, 
qu'elle  est  Xalnia  mater  des  universites  du  monde ;  et  d'autre  part 
nous  nous  souvenons  que  nos  peres  eurent  I'honneur  d'aider  les 
votres  a  fonder  votre  grande  Republique.  Aucun  des  souvenirs 
de  notre  long  passe  ne  nous  semble  plus  glorieux  et  ne  nous  est 
plus  cher. 

Le  Recteur  de  l'  Universite  de  Paris, 

GREARD. 

Le  Secretaire  du  Conseil  de  /'  Utiiversite', 

Pfr.  ERNEST  LAVISSE. 


289 


[university    of   PRAGUE] 

cJlDCctoz  et  (^eiiatud 
Ihnlvetditatid  (Dazolo-cfetdinandeae  yetmanlcae 
Lhnwetdttattd  J^  tincetotitendid 
J=>taedtcil  (jutatoxibud  Jotofeddotibud 

Jjaetiddimtd  animid,  'Viti  illudttej,  littetaa  'Ve^tzad  accepimud,  quibud  ad 
dollemnia  daeculazia  'ibnivezditattd  Szincetoniendid  'Vobidcum  celebianda 
invttabamuz. 

foam  quo  daeptud  fit,  id  vtzt  docti  ex  idtimu  ozbtd  tezzazuni  zeqioni- 
buA  congzcdianiuz  dtudiozumque  fzuctud  tntez  de  comtnunicent,  co  maqia 
hodped  hojpitein  diiigit,  Mnqulazed  ejiu  viztuteA  admizatuz  et  dtdczinitna 
ea  pazvi  liabenda  eMe  intellegit,  qutbiiA  gcnted  humanae  ducentibud  fattd 
iiepazantuz. 

So  majote  aiitem  gaudto  nuntim  'Ve.itez  gzatidMniud  nod  affec'it, 
quod  pzobe  dciebamus  eod,  qui  c!)^cadeniiatn  ^ztncetontenAeni  faudtu  onii- 
nibui  condidezunt,  fuidM  tntez  pzimod,  qui  anttquiddiniazuni  littezaztini 
demina  tzand  Oceanum  dpazgezent  zcconditiozidque  doctzinae  cultuni  in  viz- 
gine,  ut  ajunt,  tezza  pzopagazent. 

^uatn  ob  zem  libentez,  di  fiezi  potuiddet,  niididdemud  altqueni  ex  ozdine 
denatozum  eollegti  noMzi,  qui  a,  d.  XI.  Sijal.  ibov.  zevocata  otiginuni  cele- 
bezzitnae  Q^cadcniiae  %  edtzae  memozia  dedidezatiddiniozutn  udud  aniicozum 
kodpitio   vobidcum  laetazetuz. 

&ed  quontani  nemo  mventud  edt  in  Senatu  '^bniwzditatid  nodtzae, 
qui  diutuzno  et  tnopinato  itinezi  faciendo  vacazet,  hid  littezid  %^obid  pzo 
offtcitd  'Vedtzid  ultzo  oblatid  gzattad  aginiud,  ac  nod,  cum  illuxezit  died  dol- 
leinntd,  non  mmud  quam  di  adeddemud,   vcdtzi  mcmozcd  foze  polliccmuz. 

ialete,  vtzi  liludtzcd,  et  eadem  via,  quam  deceddozed  yedtzi  ante  hod 
centum  et  quinquaginta  annod  bonid  avibud  ingzeddi  dunt,  felicitez  foztunate- 
que  pezgite. 

3)abamud  Szagae  cJd.  ^fuL  MDCCCLXXXXyi. 

a\D.    cfhuppezt, 

h.  t,    ibniv,  yerm,  ahecloz, 

290 


[queen's   college,  BELFAST] 


The  President  and  Council  of  Queen's  College,  Belfast,  have  received 
with  feelings  of  deep  interest  and  sincere  pleasure  the  communication 
addressed  to  them  by  the  President,  Trustees  and  Professors  of  the  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey  informing  them  of  the  intended  Sesquicentennial 
commemoration  of  the  foundation  of  the  College  and  of  the  ceremonies  by 
which  the  inauguration  of  Princeton  University  is  to  be  celebrated. 

They  regret  much  that  it  has  been  found  impossible  to  delegate  one  of 
their  number  to  represent  this  College  on  so  important  and  memorable  an 
occasion,  the  commencement  of  their  own  winter  session  at  the  same  date 
calling  for  the  presence  of  all  the  members  of  their  academic  body  in  Bel- 
fast. But,  though  they  shall  thus  reluctantly  be  unrepresented,  they  none 
the  less  heartily  join  in  the  congratulations  and  good  wishes  with  which 
the  time-honoured  College  and  the  new  University  will  be  greeted. 

Queen's  College,  Belfast,  is  specially  and  intimately  connected  with 
Princeton  by  the  fact  that  the  late  President  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey, 
whose  name  and  distinguished  services  to  it  can  never  be  forgotten,  the 
venerable  Reverend  James  McCosh,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  may  be  said  to  have 
been  a  gift  from  Belfast,  where  he  commenced  his  professional  career  and 
where  his  memory  will  long  be  cherished,  and  by  this  circumstance  also 
that  one  of  the  present  professors  at  Princeton,  who  occupies  there  a  posi- 
tion of  honour  and  usefulness,  the  Reverend  George  Macloskie,  M.  A.,  D.  Sc, 
is  an  alumnus  of  this  College,  where  he  first  exhibited  that  remarkable 
aptitude  for  the  study  of  Natural  History  which  he  has  since  pursued 
with  so  much  honour  to  himself  and  such  advantage  to  the  cause  of 
science. 

Princeton  University  may  be  assured  that  the  sincerest  interest  is  taken 
in  its  welfare  by  this  College,  where  the  confident  hope  is  cherished  that 
the  proceedings  at  the  Sesquicentennial  celebrations  may  be  happy  and 
successful,  and  that  the  honourable  history  and  traditions  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey  may  be  continued  and  perpetuated  in  the  new  institution 
now  to  be  inaugurated. 


Queen's  College, 

Belfast,  June,  1896. 


J.  HAMILTON,  President. 
I.   PUXSER,  Registrar. 


291 


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[university   of   ROME] 


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292 


[university  of  Rostock] 


Das  Concilium  der  Universitat  Rostock  hat  mit  lebhafter  Theil- 
nahme  die  freundliche  Einladung  zu  der  vom  20.  bis  22.  October 
dieses  Jahres  stattfindenden  Feier  der  1 50'.?  Wiederkehr des  Stiftungs- 
tages  der  Universitat  zu  Princeton  empfangen.  In  vollkommener 
Wijrdigung  der  hohen  Verdienste  derselben  urn  die  Beforderung  und 
Entwickelung  der  Wissenschaften  hatte  es  gerne  durch  ein  Mitglied 
seines  Kreises  personlich  die  Beziehungen  zum  Ausdruck  gebracht, 
die  naturgemass  zwischen  zwei  denselben  hohen  Zielen  dienenden 
Anstalten  bestehen.  Indess,  die  weite  Entfernung  liess  die  Entsend- 
ung  eines  Deputirten  unthunHch  erscheinen  und  so  beehrt  sich  das 
Concilium  der  Universitat  Rostock  der  Princeton-University  auf 
diesem  Wege  zu  dem  bedeutungsvollen  Tage  seine  aufrichtigsten 
Gliickwiinsche  darzubringen.  Moge  der  wissenschaftliche  Geist,  der 
die  Angehorigen  der  Princeton-University  beseelt,  nie  aufhoren  sich 
zum  Ruhme  der  Union  und  des  engeren  Heimathstaates,  so  wirk- 
unesvoU  wie  bisher  zu  bethaticren.  Von  Herzen  wiinscht  das  Con- 
ciliumderUniversitat  Rostock,  dafs  die  heute  so  glanzvoll  dastehende 
Princeton-University,  getragen  von  dem  opferfreudigen  Sinne  hoch- 
herziger  amerikanischer  Patrioten,in  den  nachsten  Jahrzehnten  sich  zu 
immer  schonerer  Bliithe  entfalten  und  dass  die  eifrige  Wirksamkeit 
ihrer  eelehrten  Docenten  nach  wie  vor  der  freien  Wissenschaft  zum 
Wohle  und  Heile  gereichen  moge. 

Rostock,  den  30.  September  1896. 

Der  Rector  der  Landesuniversitat 

DR.  WILHELM    STIEDA. 


293 


[  THE   ROYAL   PRUSSIAN    ACADEMY   OF   SCIENCES  ] 

COLLEGIO    NEOCAESARIENSI 

ARTIUM    LIBERALIUM    IN   ORBE   NOVO   ANTIQUAE   SEDI 

RELIGIONIS   SINCERAE   INCONCUSSO   FUNDAMENTO 

UBI  NATURAE  HUMANITATISQVE   STUDIA   PARI   ARDORE 

CULTA   FLORUERUNT  OLIM   ET   NUNC   FLORENT 

ACTOS   FELICITER  CL  ANNOS  GRATULANS 

LUDOSQVE   SAECULARES   M.  OCT.  MDCCCXCVI    INSTANTES 

OPTIMIS   OMINIBUS   PROSEQVENS 

UT  NOMINE  AC  MOMINE  AUCTA 

UNIVERSITAS    PRINCETONIENSIS 

AVITAE    LAUDIS   MEMOR   IN    DIES   MAGIS 

INTER   UTRIUSQVE   MUNDI    SORORES    EMINEAT 

AMICIS  VOTIS   EXPETIT 

ACADEMIA    REGIA    BORUSSICA 
SCIENTIARUM 

DATUM   BEROLINI   NOW.  lULIlS   MDCCCXCVI 


294 


[  THE  ROYAL  SOCIETY  OF  LONDON  ] 

iCljeK'^P^'^dSocietp  of  &  .wn ,.  ^i.^ 

to  caiX  to  4vtinb  ihz  i4i-ai4u  ^t-ato/tnat  'tcfaUo-na  vumoh,  jzon^^ 
DC^-w  catlu  ti44tci>,  it  fia^  ftab  lultPi  t^fie  bi^tmgitkvi'tcb  -vnen 
Mj^o  ovt  -tlve  otfrct^  ^ibc  of  tPve  <£ltlatvtic  Ivavc  ^uoteb  tlieii: 
ei4ci>gtc^  to  tlvc  abvai4cei4tc-nt  o|  S'latut^aE  eli^tovofeoge,  to 
ptoi44otc  vohicfi  tfve  Society  -vua^  lott^ioco.  3t  lrai> 
'HjatcPicb  -njitft^  i'H-tG/te^t  tfic  CAta^Ci^-vnewt  anb  <^zovoi^n  o| 
in!ytiti^tio'Hi>  144^  filvnc^ica  fiaDi4^va  ^o^  tiWi^  oujcct  -tne 
bi^coDC'C-w     cn^i^     cvpteab     o|     -t^tut^.         fit-ni-o-Ha     -tneoc-     tne 

tlni\)erstt^  of  ;princeton  jn^t^t^  fvoi'b.v  a  ftigfi  pface, 

avib  t^e  ^cotbevtt  ai^ib  eFeHoi/uo  op  tnc  Svotjai  Societi^ 
bc<M4^  to  i>ei/ib  to  tPtat  *^tu-u€/tmtu  t^iz  vca/t/nv<i^  g^ect- 
ii4-a^  on  t^e  aw.>piciou.>  occasion  ot  it^  i>e;>cjtiicc^ntetti^tiat 
ccfeCvtatiovt,  anb  tfieit^  l!)e>t  i^ot^lW^  |or  it^  covttii44^eo  pto<^- 
■pe/cWxjr  i-H/  t^ve  tii44^  to  co-vvie. 

15t^  Si-u^awot,  1896.  '^e^ibewt  of  tCie  9?oi^ci^  Socleti^. 


295 


[university    of   saint    ANDREWS] 


i'atiiv     Sai4^cti    Q'Hi^t^eae     apiib    Scotch, 
HOC   bic    au^picato    iflt4.i>t'tiAM44i'ae  '^ni-ue-t^ita^^i 

du.'H4.i4i<j-    cuyn    taubc    ClccpbcvMiac  xm^t^ac  -ptoe- 

pufelica    tu\n    in    eccfei>ia    i>tti^iui4i-,    ibetvt    ii4- 
§.  S.    Csrt-^oioo^ia.   cxcolcvibci  -l'a6ot^  inbe|e^;>i40. 

\LlcClOC^4VlCl<l  iyi   0144 ne  acnw^m   oi44tiia  lati^te 
p-tocvpet^caiic  cucnia-nt. 

(Sl^iiH^   'tei   ivi-  -te^ti/Hi-0'nvu444.  fiaec  in  -no- 
441-i-HC.  et  pet^  b<icz<ii>um  '^nvuctM-t'al'ii*  ^Sufe^oripivit 

fllnbreapoft  ^ioe-Gavi-ceWai^vud. 

a.  ^.  IV.  ^Cal.  Oct.  /^ 

I     SEAL      1 


296 


[university   of   saint   PETERSBURG] 

UNIVERSITATIS  CAESAEEAE  PETROrOLITANAE 

SENATUS 

COLLECxII  IIUCUSQUE  iXEOCAESARIEXSIS 

MOX 

UNIVERSITATIS  PRINCETONIENSLS 

PRAESIDI  CURATORIBUS  PROFESSOEIBUS 

S.  p.  D. 

Quod  illustrissimi  Studii  vestvi,  vivi  clarissimi  et  doctissimi, 
origines  pie  reeolentes  simulque  pulcberrimi  illius,  quod  per  omnes 
terras  vagatur,  litterarum  scientiarumque  commercii  haud  immemo- 
res  nos  quoque  votis  pro  novella  Universitate  rite  suscipiendis  prae- 
sentes  esse  voluistis,  grato  vobis  laetoque  animo  referimus  acceptum. 
Quo  magis  doleuduin  arbitramui',  quod  in  diversissima  regione  habi- 
tantes  totoque  paene  orbe  a  vobis  divisa  ueminem  hoc  anni  tempore 
invenimus,  qui  huius  gratitudinis  nostrae  comis  fidusque  existere 
posset  interpres,  ut  ad  has  mutas  decurrendum  sit  litteras,  ne  in  com- 
muni  gi-atulatione  nostrae  erga  vos  voluntatis  testificatio  desideretur. 
Cupimus  igitur  simulque  coufidimus  ad  tanta  doctrinae  et  laudis 
incrementa  reservari  quam  hodie  iuauguraturi  estis 

UNIVERSITATEM   PRINCETOOTENSEM 

ut — scimus  quid  dicamus — gloriosissima  ista  Eepubliea  quovis  pacto 
digna  fiat ;  confidimus  autem,  quia  is  semper  fuit  civibus  vestris 
animus,  ut  strenue  audendum,  ea  prudentia,  ut  sollerter  elaborandum, 
ea  denique  constantia,  ut  nou  ante  successum  coeptis  desistendum 
existimarent. 


Dabimus  Petropoli  die  25  Septembris  anni  MDCCCXCVI. 


(     SEAL     ) 


Universitatis  Caesareae  Petropolitanae  Eeetor  P.  NnilTIN. 

Ordinis  historicorum  et  philologoruui  Decauus  I.  POMJALOVSKIJ. 

Ordinis  physicorum  et  mathematicorum  Decanus  A.  SoVETOV. 

Pro  Decano  ordinis  iureconsultorimi  BaSILIUS  Lebedev. 

Ordinis  linguas  orientales  prof essorum  Decanus  ViCTOR  LIBER  BARO  A  RoSEN. 


297 


[university   of   SALAMANCA] 

3^ector 

(sMaaiiAi  (4  WociQU:>  huJM  ^Imae  ti  kt,'ian4i<juat  ^cademiae  &alman4inae,,  §*tael>kii  ^ula4oU= 
hui^  cae^eiiinue  eiMclem  §vdini!>  &odaUI)Ui  ^oUe^ii  ^tccatMiUniiii,  ^iinceioniat :  &alu4em  in 
Wno  auamhlmimam  dicuni. 

SEUhijae,  auM  (,x  fohiA,  ^mjdmimi  Tiu,  dk  iciUcei  heiietno  accehimmi  acculaie  h/txtjedo  ti 
concinnt  dejikiae,,  nol'ii  hetaia^ae  e^mhum  in  mcdumjumndae  accideie,  eo  auod,  cum  de  cen^iimo 
auinaua^eiimo  ^eocaeMUemii  (gollmd  ^aialikio  veiiia  hauddulia  claa  noi  ienevo/en^ia ^aciam 
cei/iolei/  4wm  tiiam  auod,  de  eiuidetn  ^oileaii  in  "'%mwm4a4em  ^iince4onk'nAem"  ccmmu4a= 
4ione  e4  inauauimione  4am4um  even4uni  nol'i^  'K/nun4kn4 — Suae,  auidem  nuncia  noviinie4iiiiii 
e4  S'ide  t4  i4udiii  communilui  voUi  conmnc4immi:^  niaximani  Iae4i4iam  a44uleu  a4que  deiec4a= 
4ioneni. 

^umula4iyyimai  iai4ui  ToUi,  Ti/ii  h&dUwAits^,  t4  de,  li44eui  lienemeu4i,  iejfiendimu^  qia4ei  hioMet 
filaecikuam  in  nci4%am  "(^imam  @Ma4ieni  oliUivan4iam :  e4  4an4o  iaeculaii  Mt!>4o  oli4ima 
<^uae(^u6  a  Weo  §.  oil.  exoi,an4e^,  w>U:>  de  ^i4iui  " '1/niveiii4a4ii  ^iince4cniemii  "  ini4i4u4ione  e4 
inau<fma4ione  iemel  e4  i4eium,  ex  in4emc  ienm  ma4ulamut. 

^onnuiloii  ieveia  ex  noi4io  ^cademico  oidine  /■eaa4ci  ad  voi  /i6diSen4ei  nii44elemuA,  qui  e4 
ov(a4o  u4elen4ui  Aoifii4k  e4una  votiicum  ho4iiii'maAueien4ui  Iae4i4ia;  velumenvmveio,  ii,  in  4an4a 
ielum  iniqui4a4e  in  qua  i^iifianiae  nunc  4em,ho'viii  vei!ian4ui,  haec  noi4ia  deiideiia,  Ucu4  eAie4in  vc4ii> 
jie/bi  ac  ^letfici  nequean4,  4o4a  ni/ii/ominm  Toi,  /iiaei4an4iiiimi  viii,  comi4alimul  men4e,  ^eumque 
jiiecaUmul  u4  ve^tae  Teliae  iolemnei  bene  e4  jelici4ei  evenian4  e4  Auc4uA  in  hc!>4euim  ex  ickn4ia= 
lum  a^lo  quern  novii  viiikii  nunc  colele  coejm4i;>,  iin4  Uoien4ei,  iin4  uUiumi,  iin4  iea4i. 

Wa4um  Sfalman4icae :   ^jiud  %niveiM4a4em :   ^onii  (sMaii,  ^rnni  &ni  MDCCCXCVI. 

^n  &oc4oluvi  eMaaii4toiumque  nomine 


i  SEAL   j  oManih  §ihel,a(}c 


oiano 


298 


[university  of  strassburg] 


Kaiser- Wilhelms-Universitat, 

Strassburg,  den  3.  August  1896. 

Im  Namen  des  akademischen  Senates  unserer  Hochschule 
spreche  ich  Ihrer  Universitat  zur  Feier  ihres  i50jahrigen 
Bestehens  unsere  herzlichsten  Gliickwunsche  aus.  Ich  ver- 
binde  damit  unseren  besten  Dank  fiir  die  freundliche  Ein- 
ladung,  die  Sie  an  uns  ergehen  liessen,  und  den  Ausdruck 
unseres  Bedauerns,  von  der  Entsendung  eines  Vertreters  zu 
Ihrem  Jubilaum  Abstand  nehmen  zu  miissen.  Da  die  Zeit 
Ihres  Festes  gerade  mit  dem  Beginn  des  Wintersemesters 
zusammenfallt,  ist  es  leider  keinem  Mitgliede  des  Lehr- 
korpers  unserer  Universitat  moglich,  eine  Reise  auf  so 
weite  Entfernung  zu  unternehmen. 

Der  Rektor  der  Universitat, 

LENEL. 


299 


[university   of   TUBINGEN] 


De 


Akademische  Senat 


Koni^lich  Wiirttemberorischen   Universitat 


T 


I 


an 


■t/t^e      /y(p'PZ''t'i^e-iii r^lt^'f  ^^'''i-t-^yi.C'e-t-o-'n^,    (Sxy«;-z^      ^t-e-id-e 


■e-'^'li^t^'l 


■z.-t^on^-e-r^tzi^-r^-e-'i^e-     i)-&'jh^'i'     -r7^&di> 


i-t-tdi^    tt^'yi.d -ci^e-  ■rz--i^^l-t-i>'^'fi,r7-e'7^  S<:^'lM^i>'H-^, 


^■e-l  c/ei'Z>€--t^^-t--rt 


t>'H>it^i^, 


€' 


'Lt^^^pedd-tn-i.    ^^■^.    (s^-^* 


300 


[university  of  upsala] 

PRAESIDI  CURATOEIBUS  PEOFESSORIBUS 

COLLEGII  NEOCAESAEIENSIS 

S.  p.  D. 

RECTOR  ET  SENATUS 

UNIYERSITATIS  UPSALIENSIS 

Per  litteras  humanitatis  plenas  nuper  certiores  nos  fecistis,  Viri  illus- 
trissimi  et  doctissimi,  in  eo  esse,  ut  festi  a  Vobis  dies  celebrentur,  quibus 
memoriam  CoUegii  Neoeaesariensis  abbine  CL  annos  conditi  pie  recolatis 
iidemque  Universitatem  Princetoniensem  rite  inauguretis.  Quod  ut 
magno  cum  gaudio  nostro  cognovimus,  ita  non  potuit  non  gratissimum 
esse,  quod  unum  aliquem  ex  nostro  numero  legatum  mitti  voluistis,  qui 
Vestro  usus  bospitio  Vobiscum  festo  illo  tempore  laetaretur.  Cui  invita- 
tioni  tam  liberali  atque  tarn  bonorificae  quominus  obsequamur  cum  regi- 
onum  louginquitate  oflSciorumque  nostrorum  ratione  probibeamur,  nobis 
liceat  hoc  uno  quo  possumus  modo  Vobis  Vestraeque  Universitati  et 
peraeti  temporis  prosperitatem  congratulari  et  in  posterum  laetissima  et 
optima  quaeque  precari.  Vivat,  vigeat,  inerementa  capiat  Uuiversitas 
Priucetouiensis !  Doceutium  laude,  frequentia  discentium  semper  floreat ! 
Praeclara  ilia  artium  optimarum  studia  foveat,  augeat,  exornet ! 

Valete  nobisque  f avete  ! 

Dabamus  Upsaliae  mense  Septembri  a.  MDCCCLXXXXVI 

Senatus  aeademici  nomine 

TH.  M.  FRIES, 
Rector. 


301 


[university   of    UTRECHT] 


praesi&i  Curatorlbus  professorlbus 
■Qniversitatts  iprincetonieusts 

(sf.  2).  ^  ^. 

IRector  ^agnificus  et  Senatus 
"Clniversttatls  'Clltraiectinae 

raeti  uestra  laetitia,  "Cltri  ampUssimi,  libenter  accepimus 
instate  &tem,  quo  uestri  (I©XXE01I1F,  quo&  futt  ollm, 
lD1R1IlDj61RS1lXrHXrilS,  quae  moj  futura  est,  spatlo  sesqui* 
K  saeculari  elapso,  Mem  anniuersarium  sollemniore 
^^  solito  sltis  celebraturi  rttu. 
1bunc  faustissimum  euentum  uobis  impense  gratulamur,  nee  non 
sinceris  prosequtmur  uotis  pro  uestrae  "Clniuersitatis  in  annis  et 
saeculis,  quae  Deinceps  sunt  insecutura,  felicitate.  (HIDIF  mzucSi 
^©IRUIDIFS  1R]E2)3>1IU,  HXXE  uobis  uestrisque  stuDiis  faueat  pros* 
peramque  fortunam  in&ulgeat. 

(Xolleaam  nostrum  Hmbrosium  Hrnolbum  6uilielmum  Ibubrecbt 
D.  C.  quem  bonoris  causa  soUemnitatibus,  quas  obituri  estis,  cele* 
bran5is  aSbibuistis  rooauimus  ut  uestri  gaubii  testis  ocularis 
coram  apu&  vos  barum  litterarum  gratulationem  et  bona  uota  sua 
confirmet  oratione. 

IDaletc 

3)atum  '^bltzaiecti  mendii  ^uli 

die  XXP^P  S9,,  3).  MDCCCLXXXXyi  IRector  maflntficua  ^__^ 

/ID.  Ub.  iboutsma         fl^^^ 

Senatus  Sctuariue  \^^J 

%.  De  Xouter. 


302 


FROM    OTHER    COUNTRIES 


[university    of   MELBOURNE] 


The  University  of  Melbourne, 

1 2th  May,  1896. 

Sir: 

I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the 
document  dated  ist  January,  1896,  in  which  is  conveyed 
an  invitation  to  the  University  of  Melbourne  to  attend 
at  the  celebration  of  the  150th  Anniversary  of  the  foun- 
dation of  the  University  of  New  Jersey,  U.  S.  A. 

In  reply,  I  am  directed  to  inform  you  that  the  Council 
of  this  University,  at  its  meeting  held  yesterday,  passed 
the  following  resolution : 

"That  the  University  of  New  Jersey  be  thanked  for 
"  the  honour  it  has  done  the  University  of  Melbourne  in 
"  asking  it  to  appoint  a  delegate  to  attend  at  the  celebra- 
"tion  of  such  an  important  and  interesting  event ;  and 
"the  University  of  New  Jersey  be  informed  that  the 
"  University  of  Melbourne  will  gladly  avail  itself  of  the 
"  invitation,  if  it  be  possible  to  make  arrangements  for 
"  so  doing." 

I  have  the  honour  to  be.  Sir, 

Your  obedient  Servant, 

E.  F.  A  BECKETT, 

Registrar. 
To  the  Secretary  of  the 

Princeton  Sesquicentennial  Celebration. 


305 


[SYRIAN   PROTESTANT   COLLEGE] 


SYRIAN   PROTESTANT    COLLEGE, 
BEIRUT,  SYBIA. 


^ke  cfacuity  of  t lie  ^yt'ian  Jstote^tant  Golle^e  (''lhl-&Jbedteiiat 
tii-d'oullii/at  ua-(sfaui/at  ul-cSqa^elli/atJ  acknowledge  with 
than/id  the  coutteM  of  the  J^redldentf  Vtudteed  and  cJ'acuity 
of  the  (boileae  of  ibew  /jetdeij  in  extending  to  them  an  in- 
vitation/ lately  zeceiped  through  the  Lbnited  Stated  Joegation 
at  (oondtantinoplcf  to  he  teptedented  at  the  (^ejcjuicentennial 
Gelebtation  to  be  held  in  Jotinceton  in  Uctobet  next.  cJt 
gived  them  much  pleadute  to  be  able  to  accept  the  invitation, 
with  the  appointment  of  cJoev,  <JJaniel  colidd,  JJ,  JJ,,  JozeAi- 
dent  of  the  (oollege,  ad  theit  x.epte<ientative, 

cJn    behalf  of  the   cFacultif   of  the   (Sjyzian    Jototedtant 
(jollege, 

ffhobezt  m.  West/ 

Seczetaty, 


306 


\  Translation .  ] 

Prestdent  Francis    L.  Patton, 
Princeton  University, 

United  States  of  America. 

Dear  Sir  . 

I  have  the  honor  to  tender  you  my  hearty  thanks  for  your  courtesy 
in  extending  to  me  the  invitation  to  the  celebration  of  the  one  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  and  inauguration 
of  the  said  College  as  Princeton  University,  to  be  held  for  three  days, 
from  October  20  to  22  of  the  present  year. 

The  prosperity  or  dechne  of  a  country  depends,  to  a  very  large  ex- 
tent, upon  the  state  of  education  in  that  country.  Though  there  may 
be  many  causes  which  have  brought  about  the  present  ])rosperity  of  the 
United  States  in  agriculture,  industry  and  commerce,  it  is  mainly  due. 
I  would  say,  to  the  development  and  progress  of  science  and  arts  re- 
sulting from  the  excellent  system  of  education  in  your  country,  and 
I  believe  the  success  of  your  College  in  educating  so  many  men  since 
its  foundation  must  have  contributed  to  the  national  welfare  in  no 
small  degree. 

You  are  now  about  to  expand  your  scheme  of  instruction  at  the  time 
when  you  celebrate  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
College.  It  is  a  matter  of  great  congratulation  for  your  country  as 
well  as  science  and  arts  themselves,  for  it  will  help  further  enlighten- 
ment of  your  country  in  a  greater  degree. 

I  only  regret  that  circumstances  do  not  allow  me  to  send  out  any 
representative  from  this  University  and  to  let  him  attend  personally 
the  most  auspicious  celebration.  I  write  this,  however,  in  order  to 
present  you  the  congratulations  with  my  sincere  hope  for  the  prosperity 
and  success  of  the  Princeton  University. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be. 
Dear  Sir, 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

Arata  Hama(i, 
President,  Imperial  University. 

ToKio,  September  30,  1896. 


Facsimile  of  the  Congratulatory  Letter 
of  the  University  ot  Tokio. 


'/  ici)  a/lfifiril  ylTB'iri  vm  ony  •I'jhn^i  01  loriori  -jdl  avEfl  I 

:i  o)  ynibnaJxa  ai 

. .,  .■  .  ,     -I.  '  "'B  fljaillii  bfiB 

,>(i;!i  vaTdJ  7o1  bbfl  3d  o  )  biea  adl  lo 

.ifiay^  jjiiiaiij  3ilj  10  i£  oj  OS  ladoJoO  moi) 
-Z3  agiel  ifiav  £  oJ  ,ebn3q3b  pJiTooa  c  In  sin'-  J,  -  ,  .ih-,.  ,>i.-t(!  ',(!T 
I  am  diariJ  riguoriT     .yunooD  isAt  ni  noiJ£  !:jJ 

■)(!j  1(1  '••id  iJi.i'l 


•nfiflsw   '  I  isiim  noh&bauol  .■■'■. 


inwfi  a/i 


jr(;  Jsl'  ol  bras  J  airll  m.  .3g3Tf[9i. 


'  aauoY. 

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iii 


CONGRATULATORY  ADDRESSES, 

LETTERS   AND   TELEGRAMS 

RECEIVED  FROM 

ASSOCIATIONS   AND    INDIVIDUALS 


[  ALLIANCE   OF   REFORMED   CHURCHES   HOLDING  THE   PRESBYTERIAN   SYSTEM  ] 

Philadelphia,  Pa.,  October  19,  1896. 

To  the  Trustees  of  Princeton  University,  Greeting  : 

The  American  Section  of  the  "Alliance  of  the  Reformed  Churches  through- 
out the  World  holding  the  Presbyterian  System,"  through  its  officers,  tenders 
to  you  cordial  congratulations  upon  the  Sesquicentennial  of  the  justly  cele- 
brated institution  of  learning  whose  interests  are  in  your  charge.  Presby- 
terians have  cherished  a  deep  affection  for  the  "College  of  New  Jersey" 
through  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  which  have  elapsed  since  it  was  first 
established — an  interest  natural  in  view  of  the  history  of  the  Institution.  The 
majority  of  its  founders  were  Presbyterians ;  its  first  classes  assembled  in  the 
home  of  a  Presbyterian  pastor,  who  was  the  first  president ;  and  the  support 
of  the  Presbyterian  General  Synod  resulted  in  the  erection  of  Nassau  Hall,  the 
first  of  the  collegiate  buildings.  From  the  initial  years  onward,  the  interest  of 
Presbyterians  in  the  Institution  has  been  made  increasingly  manifest  by  gener- 
ous gifts ;  and  none  have  rejoiced  more  than  they  in  the  ever-enlarging  body 
of  students;  in  the  notable  men  who  have  occupied  in  the  College  positions  of 
trust  and  learning;  and  especially  in  the  eminent  persons  filling  from  time  to 
time  the  Presidency  of  the  Institution. 

It  is,  further,  a  cause  of  rejoicing  that  the  liberal  spirit  and  scholarly  temper 
of  the  Presbyterian  Churches  made  the  College  from  the  beginning  an  institu- 
tion free  to  all  worthy  persons,  and  gave  it  an  impetus  to  sound  thinking  and 
high  scholarship  which  has  been  steadily  maintained  by  its  officers  and  faculty 
through  all  the  years  of  its  life.  Established  in  the  interests  of  true  religion 
as  well  as  of  learning,  it  has  been  a  source  also  of  great  spiritual  profit  to 
the  Presbyterian  and  other  Christian  Churches,  through  the  numerous  ministers 
whom  it  has  educated,  and  who  have  loyally  served  in  their  day  and  genera- 
tion our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

Gladly,  therefore,  do  we  tender  to  you  our  thanks  for  the  services  rendered 
by  the  College  to  the  Churches  of  Christ  during  a  century  and  a  half;  greatly 
do  we  rejoice  in  the  prosperity  which  God  has  bestowed  upon  it ;  earnestly  do 
we  hope,  now  that  it  has  become  a  university,  for  an  ever-increasing  influence 
on  its  part  in  the  maintenance  both  of  true  religion  and  sound  learning ;  and 
cordially  do  we  invoke  upon  all  its  interests  grace,  mercy  and  peace  from  God 
the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost. 

In  behalf  of  the  Alliance, 

WM.   CAVEN,   Chairman, 

WM.   HENRY   ROBERTS,  Secretary, 

GEO.  JUNKIN,  Treasurer. 

309 


[lord    KELVIN,  PROFESSOR   IN   THE   UNIVERSITY    OF   GLASGOW] 

[  Telegram\ 


Glasgow,  Oct.  21,  1896. 

President,  Princeton  University, 
New  Jersey. 

I  heartily  congratulate  the  College  and  University  of 
Princeton  on  the  celebration  of  the  150  years  of  its  be- 
neficent life  upon  which  we  look  back,  and  on  the  new 
developments  now  organized  for  continuance  of  good 
work  with  ever  increasing  energy  in  the  future.  I  regret 
exceedingly  that  my  University  engagements  in  Glas- 
gow make  it  impossible  for  me  to  be  present  at  Prince- 
ton on  this  occasion,  and  I  ask  the  University  and  its 
friends  now  assembled  to  accept  this  telegraphic  expres- 
sion of  my  cordial  sympathy  and  good  wishes. 

KELVIN. 


310 


[OHIO   SOCIETY   OF   COLONIAL   WARS] 


Society  of  Colonial  Wars, 

IN    THE    STATE    OF    OHIO. 


Cincinnati,  O.,  Oct.  20,  1896. 


The  Society  of  Colonial  Wars  in  the  State  of 
Ohio  extends  to  the  College  of  New  Jersey  its  hearty 
congratulations  on  the  completion  of  a  century  and  a 
half  of  corporate  existence. 

The  history  of  Princeton,  linking  us  with  the  early 
struggles  of  the  Colonial  Epoch,  the  grand  formative 
period  of  our  nation,  forms  a  brilliant  chapter  in  the 
annals  of  the  Republic.  May  her  career  in  the  future 
exemplify,  as  in  the  past,  the  highest  type  of  American 
scholarship ! 


Signed  on  behalf  of  the  Society, 
SAMUEL  J.  HUNT, 

Governor. 


Attest : 
A.  H.  PUGH, 

Dep.  Secretary. 


311 


[president   DWIGHT   of   YALE    UNIVERSITY] 


Munich,  Germany, 

September  30,  1896. 

My  dear  President  Patton  : 

I  write  you  a  few  lines  this  evening  to  express  to  you  what  I 
have  already  expressed  to  Professor  West  as  your  representative  —  my 
regrets  at  my  necessary  absence  from  the  exercises  of  your  celebration 
at  Princeton  on  occasion  of  your  Sesquicentennial  Anniversary.  The 
Corporation  of  our  University  extended  my  vacation  so  far  as  to  cover  not 
only  the  usual  summer  recess,  but  also  the  autumn  term;  and  as  my  family 
were  desirous  of  coming  abroad,  and  it  was  desirable  for  them  to  do  so  at 
this  time,  it  was  a  matter  of  importance  for  me  to  be  with  them. 

Professor  Fisher  will,  at  the  request  of  our  Corporation,  act  as  official 
representative  and  delegate  from  Yale  ;  and  other  professors,  as  Professors 
Lounsbury,  Ladd  and  Gibbs,  will  also  be  present  and  bear  witness  of  the 
kindly  sentiments  of  Yale  towards  Princeton. 

Your  anniversary  will  be  a  memorable  one  in  the  history  of  your  insti- 
tution ;  and  as  it  passes  from  the  old  historic  College  of  New  Jersey  into 
the  Princeton  University  of  the  future,  the  institution  will  take  to  itself  new 
honor  and  new  success.  The  relation  of  our  institution  to  yours  in  the 
early  days  was  a  peculiarly  interesting  one.  The  later  days  have  witnessed 
friendly  sentiment  and  generous  devotion  to  the  same  good  cause.  May 
the  future  find  the  two  united  in  the  true  University  brotherhood  —  with 
the  truest  loyalty  to  learning  and  truth,  and  with  the  loftiest  purpose  for 
education  and  religion. 

I  beg  you  will  present  my  kindest  and  most  respectful  regards  to  the 
members  of  your  Board  of  Trustees  and  your  Faculty,  and  my  thanks  for 
the  friendly  invitation  extended  to  me  to  be  present  at  the  anniversary. 
Were  it  not  that  the  ocean  separates  me  from  my  home  at  this  time,  I 
should  surely  have  answered  your  kind  summons  by  my  presence  and  by  a 
word  from  Yale  —  a  word  which  will  be  spoken  with  the  true  Yale  sym- 
pathy and  friendship  by  our  professors,  and  better  and  more  felicitously, 
no  doubt,  than  I  could  have  spoken  it. 

With  much  regard,  I  am  very  truly  yours, 

TIMOTHY  DWIGHT. 

312 


[professor   WILHELM    OSTWALD,  university    of   LEIPZIG] 

[  Telegram  ] 


Leipzig,  Oct.  21,  1896. 

University, 

Princeton,  N.  J. 

Vivat  crescat  floreat  Universitas  Princetoniensis  in 
aeternum. 

OSTWALD, 
Professor  of  Chemistry. 


313 


^art  Cl)trD 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH   OF 
PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 


^^^  3  3  2\^  ■  "^_^-  ;^-;^  ^  IP  ^^'^ '^^'j:j^i^i_!;jj>-'"^^^'  -^i^ 


.UL,A    l^ASS 


PRELIMINARY  NOTE. 


I  am  indebted  to  the  History  of  the  College  by  President  Maclean ;  to 
the  Princeton  Book  published  by  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Company ;  to  the 
several  Histories  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  by  Webster,  Hodge,  Gillett,  and 
Briggs ;  to  those  who  have  written  sketches  of  Professors,  and  to  Professor 
Charles  W.  Shields  and  Professor  Henry  C.  Cameron,  who  have  carefully 
studied  the  beginnings  of  the  University.  In  writing  a  brief  historical  sketch 
of  a  college,  one  is  compelled  to  make  the  Presidents,  not  absolutely,  but  rela- 
tively too  prominent.  It  seems  impossible,  with  so  little  space  at  one's  dis- 
posal, not  to  do  injustice,  through  lack  of  adequate  mention,  to  Professors  who 
not  only  have  shared  with  the  Presidents  the  burdens  of  administration,  but 
as  teachers  have  done  the  distinctive  work  of  an  institution  of  learning,  and 
have  largely  given  to  it  its  reputation.  The  elder  John  Maclean;  the  brothers 
James  and  Addison  Alexander ;  Albert  B.  Dod,  the  mathematician  and  man 
of  letters ;  Joseph  Henry,  the  physicist ;  Stephen  Alexander,  the  astron- 
omer; Arnold  Guyot,  the  geologist  and  geographer;  Lyman  H.  Atwater,  the 
great  teacher  and  wise  counsellor ;  and  Alexander  Johnston,  the  political 
historian,  and  others,  deserve  commemoration  in  a  volume  like  this  as  really 
as  do  Jonathan  Dickinson  and  James  McCosh. — J.  De  Witt. 


I.    The  Beginnings  of   University  Life  in  America. 


HE  earliest  colleges  planted  in  America  not  only 
adopted  the  curriculum  of  the  European  univer- 
sities and  manifested  their  spirit  in  new  con- 
ditions, but  are  descended  from  them.  Almost 
the  youngest  of  the  colleges  of  Cambridge  is  Emmanuel, 
founded  in  1584.  From  the  beginning  of  its  life  it  was 
the  home  of  Puritanism.  Indeed,  from  the  beginning  of 
the  Puritan  movement  this  was  true  of  the  university. 
Before  EmmanueP  College  existed,  as  Mr.  Froude  has  said, 
"  Cambridge,  which  had  been  the  nursery  of  the  reforms, 
retained  their  spirit.  When  Cambridge  offended  the  govern- 
ment of  Elizabeth,  it  was  by  over-sympathy  with  Cartwright 
and  the  Puritans."  This  sympathy  with  Puritanism  on 
the    part   of  the  university   at   the  close  of  the   sixteenth 

'  "  Emmanuel  owed  its  origin  to  the  same  movement  of  thought  which  pro- 
duced your  Commonwealth,  and  the  ideas  which  found  expression  on  the 
coast  of  Massachusetts  Bay  were  fostered  in  Sir  Walter  Mildmay's  new  Col- 
lege at  Cambridge.  Emmanuel  College  was  founded  to  be  a  stronghold  of 
the  Puritan  party  in  the  days  when  they  were  waging  a  stubborn  and  deter- 
mined war  for  the  possession  of  the  English  Church." — Prof  Mandell 
Creighton,  "  Record  of  Harvard  University's  250th  Anniversary,"  p.  277. 

31  7 


318  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

century  was  most  intense  in  Emmanuel  College.  From 
Emmanuel  came  the  most  of  the  founders  of  Harvard.  In 
this  way,  just  when  Emmanuel  College  had  passed  the  first 
half  century  of  its  existence,  Cambridge  University  became 
the  mother  of  the  oldest  of  the  American  universities.  Thus, 
both  because  of  intellectual  and  religious  sympathy,  and 
by  the  mode  of  a  visible  historical  descent,  the  spirit  of  the 
institution  which  had  long  existed  on  the  banks  of  the  Cam 
in  England,  was  embodied  in  the  new  institution  of  learning 
established  on  the  bank  of  the  Charles  in  New  England. 
So  strong  was  the  sense  of  their  indebtedness  to  the  univer- 
sity in  the  mother  country,  and  so  intense  was  the  feeling 
of  historical  relationship,  that  the  founders  of  Harvard 
changed  the  name  of  the  village  in  which  the  new  college 
was  given  a  home  from  Newtown  to  Cambridge.  The 
college  soon  justified  the  hopes  of  its  founders ;  the  hopes 
especially  of  that  "  reverend  and  godly  lover  of  learning," 
John  Harvard,  who  endowed  it  with  his  library  and  with 
one  half  of  his  other  property,  and  from  whom  it  obtained 
its  name. 

Sixty-five  years  later  Harvard  College  became,  in  turn, 
the  mother  of  another  college.  For  just  as  Harvard  traces 
its  origin  to  graduates  of  Emmanuel,  Yale  traces  its  be- 
ginnings to  the  Rev.  James  Pierpont,  a  Harvard  graduate  of 
the  class  of  1681,  and  the  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson,  a  Harvard 
graduate  of  the  class  of  1668.  The  governor  of  Massachu- 
setts, Earl  Bellamont,  when  addressing  the  General  Court 
of  the  Commonwealth  in  1699,  ""^ade  this  remark:  "  It  is  a 
very  great  advantage  you  have  above  other  provinces,  that 
your  youth  are  not  put  to  travel  for  learning,  but  have  the 
muses  at  their  doors."  It  was  not  only  the  disadvantage 
of  distance  which  the  establishment  of  Harvard  College 
overcame,  but  the  disadvantage  also  which  the  non-con- 
forming  subjects   of  Great    Britain    suffered,    of  inability, 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  319 

because  non-conformists,  to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  the 
EngHsh  universities.  Still,  distance  alone  was  thought  a 
disadvantage  in  Connecticut.  At  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  population  of  the  New  England  colonies 
had  risen  to  one  hundred  thousand ;  and  already,  in  the 
colony  of  Connecticut,  with  a  population  of  fifteen  thousand, 
the  need  of  an  institution  of  liberal  learning  was  deeply  felt. 
Like  the  founders  of  the  college  at  Cambridge,  Massachu- 
setts, those  most  active  in  founding  Yale  College  were  min- 
isters of  the  Gospel,  the  most  of  them  graduates  of  Harvard. 
In  Dexter's  historical  sketch  of  Yale  University,  he  says 
that  "  tradition  describes  the  meeting  of  a  few  Connecticut 
pastors  at  Branford,  the  next  town  east  of  New  Haven, 
about  the  last  of  September,  1701,  and  implies  that  to  con- 
stitute a  company  of  founders,  those  then  met  gave  (or 
probably,  for  themselves  and  in  the  name  of  their  most  ac- 
tive associates,  agreed  to  give)  a  collection  of  books,  as  the 
foundation  for  a  college  in  the  colony."  The  college  charter 
clearly  indicates  that  the  end  intended  to  be  secured  by  the 
establishment  of  Yale  was  that  which  had  led  to  the  found- 
ing of  Harvard  and  the  universities  from  which  it  was  de- 
scended. Full  liberty  and  privileges  were  granted  to  the 
undertakers  "for  the  founding,  suitably  endowing,  and  or- 
dering a  collegiate  school  within  His  Majesty's  colonies 
of  Connecticut  wherein  youth  may  be  instructed  in  the  arts 
and  sciences  who,  through  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God, 
may  be  fitted  for  public  employment  in  the  Church  and  civil 
State."  During  the  same  year,  1701,  the  trustees  under  the 
charter  held  their  first  meeting;  and  Yale  College  began  its 
great  and  beneficent  career. 

Harvard  and  Yale,  with  the  Virginia  College  of  William 
and  Mary,  the  last  founded  by  a  royal  charter  in  1693,  were 
the  only  institutions  of  higher  learning  in  the  colonies  at  the 
commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century.     In  important  re- 


320  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

spects  they  were  alike  in  origin  and  aim.  Each  of  them 
arose  among  a  homogeneous  people.  Each  was  the  college 
of  a  people  compacted  by  common  religious  beliefs  and 
common  modes  of  worship,  by  common  social  customs  and 
ideals.  Each  was  the  college  of  but  a  single  colony,  sep- 
arated from  the  other  colonies  by  distance,  by  its  special 
government,  and  not  seldom  by  conflicting  interests.  Each 
was  a  college  born  of  the  needs  of  the  rehgious  communion 
which  was  united  with  the  State :  and,  what  is  specially 
important  to  notice,  each  was  born  at  a  time  when  the  col- 
onies stood  separate  from  one  another,  each  valuing  most 
highly  what  was  most  distinctive  in  its  constitution,  and 
conscious  only  of  a  loose  union  with  the  other  colonies 
through  the  common  government  across  the  sea.  Each, 
therefore,  came  into  existence  years  before  the  colonists 
began  to  realize  their  unity  as  Americans,  and  to  be  con- 
scious of  their  affection  for  a  common  country. 

The  conditions  under  which  the  fourth  American  college, 
the  college  at  Princeton,  was  born,  gave  to  it  in  impor- 
tant respects  a  different  character.  It  was  not  the  college 
of  an  established  Church.  It  was  not  the  college  of  a 
single  colony.  It  was  not  the  college  of  people  sprung 
from  a  single  nationality.  It  sprang  out  of  the  life  of  a 
voluntary  religious  communion  which  had  spread  itself  over 
several  colonies,  and  which  united  a  large  portion  of  their 
peoples  in  common  aims  and  activities ;  and  it  sprang  into 
being  at  the  time  when  Americans  began  to  be  conscious 
of  their  unity  as  Americans,  and  when  the  sentiment  of  pa- 
triotism for  a  common  country  was  beginning  to  energize  in 
united  political  action.  In  this  way,  at  its  birth,  this  fourth 
American  college  had  impressed  upon  it  a  national  and 
American  character  which  it  has  never  lost,  which  has 
largely  determined  its  patronage  and  its  policy,  and  which, 
during  the  war  of  independence  and  the  period  of  consti- 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  321 

tutional  discussion  following  the  war,  enabled  it  to  render 
great  and  special  services  to  the  United  States. 

When  the  separate  colonies  of  East  and  West  Jersey 
were  united  in  1702,  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  formed  by 
the  union  contained  a  population  of  fifteen  thousand  souls. 
This  population  was  made  up  for  the  most  part  of  English 
Friends,  of  New  England  Puritans,  and  of  Presbyterians 
from  Scotland  and  Ireland.  The  settlers  increased  rapidly 
in  number;  so  that  when,  in  1738,  the  Province  sought  an 
administration  distinct  from  that  of  New  York,  it  contained 
not  less  than  forty  thousand  people.  The  conquest  of  New 
York  by  the  British  had  introduced  into  that  city  and  the 
colony  to  which  it  belonged  a  mi.xed  population.  The 
Province  of  Pennsylvania,  organized  by  the  liberal  consti- 
tution called  "  The  Holy  Experiment,"  granted  by  its  pro- 
prietor, had  opened  its  vast  territory  to  immigrants  of 
different  nationalities  and  religious  beliefs.  The  Pennsyl- 
vania immigrants  were  English  Friends,  Germans,  and  Pres- 
byterians from  the  north  of  Ireland. 

The  wave  of  immigration  from  Presbyterian  Ulster,  on 
touching  the  American  shore,  spread  itself  more  widely 
than  any  other.  Scoto-Irish  Presbyterians  were  to  be  found 
in  New  York,  in  New  Jersey,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  the 
southern  colonies.  They  easily  allied  themselves  with  each 
other  and,  in  the  middle  colonies,  with  the  Puritan  emigrants 
from  New  England.  This  alliance  between  the  Scoto-Irish 
and  the  New  England  Puritans  gave  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  from  the  beginning,  what  may  be  called  properly 
an  American  as  distinguished  from  an  English  or  Scotch- 
Irish  character.  Indeed  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  or- 
ganized as  early  as  1705  or  1706,  by  seven  ministers,  repre- 
sented at  least  four  sources  of  the  colonial  population.  In 
17 17  a  synod  was  formed  with  the  three  presbyteries  of 
Long  Island,  Philadelphia,  and  New  Castle.     This  organi- 


322  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

zation  was  the  strongest  bond  between  the  several  popula- 
tions just  named  in  the  three  adjoining  colonies.  It  united 
them  in  a  single  church.  It  brought  together,  often  and  at 
stated  times,  their  religious  leaders.  The  Puritan  clergymen 
of  East  Jersey  who  were  graduates  of  Harvard  or  Yale,  and 
the  Scotch-Irish  ministers  of  Pennsylvania,  who  had  won 
their  degrees  at  Glasgow  or  Edinburgh,  met  and  conferred 
at  the  synod  of  the  church,  and,  after  their  return  to  their 
parishes,  corresponded  with  one  another  on  the  welfare  of 
their  congregations,  of  the  communities  in  which  they  lived, 
and  of  what  they  were  beginning  to  call  their  common 
country.  In  these  conversations  and  letters,  not  only  the 
need  of  ministers  for  the  rapidly  multiplying  churches,  but 
the  need  also  of  educated  leaders  for  the  rapidly  forming 
communities  were  often  mentioned  for  the  reason  that  they 
were  deeply  felt.  The  conviction  soon  became  strong  and 
well-nigh  unanimous  that  these  needs  could  be  supplied  only 
by  a  college  for  the  middle  colonies. 


II.  The  Origin  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

In  presenting  the  origin  of  Princeton  College,  one  can 
best  begin  by  repeating  the  statement  just  made,  namely, 
that  during  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  by  far 
the  strongest  bond  uniting  a  large  proportion  of  the  popula- 
tion of  southern  New  York,  East  and  West  Jersey,  and  the 
Province  of  Pennsylvania,  was  the  organized  Presbyterian 
Church.  It  constituted  for  these  people  a  far  stronger 
social  tie  than  the  common  sovereignty  of  Great  Britain  ; 
for  this  sovereignty  was  manifested  in  different  forms  in  the 
different  colonies ;  and,  except  in  Pennsylvania,  where  the 
proprietary's  spirit  of  toleration  had  fair  play,  it  neither  de- 
served nor  received  the  affection  of  the  most  of  the  colonists. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION  323 

In  an  important  sense  the  British  rule  in  the  middle  colonies 
was  that  of  a  foreign  power.  The  New  Englanders  in  East 
Jersey  were  settlers  under  a  government  in  whose  adminis- 
tration they  had  no  substantial  share.  Far  from  controlling, 
they  could  with  difficulty  influence  the  political  action  of  the 
Governor  and  his  Council.  In  southern  New  York  the  Dutch 
were  restive  under  the  English  domination.  In  New  York 
City  and  on  Long  Island  the  relations  between  the  Scot- 
tish Presbyterians  and  New  England  Puritans  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  English  Episcopalians  on  the  other,  were 
often  inimical ;  and  it  was  only  the  latter  to  whom,  on  the 
whole,  the  King's  representative  was  at  all  friendly.  In 
Pennsylvania  there  were  English  Friends,  Germans  who 
had  been  invited  by  Penn  to  settle  in  the  eastern  counties 
of  the  Province,  and  Scoto-Irish  Presbyterians,  who  landed 
at  the  port  of  Philadelphia  in  large  numbers,  and  took  up 
farms  in  the  rich  valleys  between  the  mountain  ranges. 
From  the  "  Irish  settlement,"  at  the  union  of  the  Delaware 
and  the  Lehigh,  where  the  city  of  Easton  now  stands,  to 
Harris'  Ferry  on  the  Susquehanna,  now  the  capital  of  the 
State,  there  were  many  Presbyterian  communities ;  and 
from  these,  in  turn,  moved  the  new  emigrations  to  the  great 
valley,  called  the  Cumberland  Valley,  north  of  the  Potomac, 
and,  south  of  that  river,  the  Valley  of  Virginia. 

The  Presbyterians  of  these  colonies  and  of  Maryland  and 
Virginia  secured  a  visible  unity  when,  in  1705  or  1706,  their 
pastors  and  churches  were  organized  as  a  presbytery. 
Touching  the  character  of  this  organization,  there  has  been 
a  good  deal  of  debate.  But  whether  formed  on  the  model 
of  the  English  presbyterial  association,'  or  on  that  of  the 
more  highly  specialized  Scotch  presbytery,  the  Presbytery 
of  Philadelphia,  as  it  was  popularly  called,  furnished  a  means 
of  association  and  of  interchange  of  ideas  among  the   Eng- 

'  Briggs'  "American  Presbyterianism,"  p.  139. 


324  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

lish-speaking  clergymen  who  were  scattered  along  the  At- 
lantic coast  from  Cape  Charles  to  Montauk  Point.  Into  this 
new  ecclesiastical  organization  soon  came  the  New  England 
congregations  of  East  Jersey.  By  1720  the  Presbyterian 
Church  was  composed  of  German,  Dutch,  Scoto-Irish,  and 
New  England  elements.  The  last  two  were  by  far  the  larg- 
est and  most  influential. 

The  rapid  increase  of  the  population,  the  need  of  new 
churches,  and  the  opportunities  offered  to  organize  them, 
impressed  on  the  Presbyterian  ministers  of  that  day  the 
need  of  an  increase  in  their  own  ranks.  Others  might  be 
depended  upon  to  organize  the  material  elements  of  civiliza- 
tion in  the  new  communities  ;  but,  just  as  it  was  at  an  ear- 
lier date  in  New  England,  the  duty  of  providing  religious 
teachers  for  the  people  was  largely  left  to  the  ministers 
already  at  work.  Francis  Makemie,  the  first  Presbyterian 
minister  to  come  from  Ireland  to  America,  gave  expression 
to  his  anxiety  on  this  subject  in  letters  written  to  Increase 
Mather  of  Boston  and  to  correspondents  in  Ireland  and 
London.  In  response  to  calls  from  the  settlers,  some  min- 
isters came  from  New  England  and  others  from  Ireland; 
but  the  supply  was  far  from  equal  to  the  demand.  As 
the  churches  had  multiplied,  the  original  presbytery  had 
been  divided  into  several  presbyteries,  and  these  had  been 
organized  as  a  synod.  And  the  members  of  the  synod,  be- 
coming more  distinctly  conscious  of  their  mission  to  their 
common  country,  began  to  agitate  the  question  of  their 
independence,  in  respect  to  ministerial  education,  of  both 
Great  Britain  and  New  England. 

This  agitation  did  not  terminate  in  itself.  A  few  minis- 
ters, unwilling  to  wait  for  ecclesiastical  action,  opened  pri- 
vate schools  in  which  they  taught  the  liberal  arts  ;  and  to 
the  students  thus  prepared  who  desired  to  become  readers 
in  divinity,  they  offered  themselves  as  preceptors.     Precisely 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  325 

these  steps  in  behalf  of  Hberal  education  were  taken  by  the 
two  Presbyterian  ministers  of  New  Jersey  who  afterward 
became  the  first  two  presidents  of  Princeton,  Jonathan  Dick- 
inson of  Ehzabethtown,  and  Aaron  Burr  of  Newark.  Still 
another  Presbyterian  minister,  William  Tennent,  opened  a 
private  school  destined  to  become  far  more  influential  than 
the  school  of  either  Dickinson  or  Burr.  This  was  the  Log 
College  at  the  Forks  of  the  Neshaminy. 

William  Tennent  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1673.  We  owe 
to  the  investigations  of  Dr.  Briggs  our  knowledge  of  the 
fact  that  he  was  graduated  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
July  II,  1695.^  He  was  admitted  to  deacon's  orders  in  the 
Church  of  Ireland  by  the  Bishop  of  Down  in  1704,  and  two 
years  later  was  ordained  a  priest.  Though  an  Episcopalian, 
he  was  related  by  blood  to  Ulster  Presbyterians,  and  he 
married  the  daughter  of  Gilbert  Kennedy,  the  Presbyterian 
pastor  of  Dundonald.  His  father-in-law  had  suffered  dur- 
ing one  of  the  persecutions  of  the  non-conformists,  and  the 
story  of  his  hardships  may  be  responsible  for  Tennent's  re- 
nunciation of  the  Church  of  Ireland.  At  all  events,  "  after 
having  been  in  orders  a  number  of  years,  he  became  scru- 
pulous of  conforming  to  the  terms  imposed  on  the  clergy  of 
the  Establishment,  and  was  deprived  of  his  living,  and  there 
being  no  satisfactory  prospect  of  usefulness  at  home,  he 
came  to  America."^  He  landed  at  Philadelphia  with  his 
four  sons  in  17 16.  Two  years  later  he  applied  for  admis- 
sion to  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia.  The  committee  to 
whom  his  application  was  referred  were  satisfied  with  his 
credentials,  with  the  testimony  concerning  him  of  some 
of  the  brethren  connected  with  the  synod,  and  with  the 
material  reasons  he  offered  for  "  his  dissenting  from  the 
Established  Church  in  Ireland."     These  reasons  were  re- 

'  "American  Presbyterianism,"  p.  186. 
=  Webster,  "  Hist.  Pres.  Church,"  p.  365. 


326  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

corded  in  the  synod's  rmnuies,  ad  fuf lira m  rei  mejiioyiam, 
he  was  voted  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
"  the  Moderator  gave  him  a  serious  exhortation  to  continue 
steadfast  in  his  holy  profession."  After  laboring  at  East 
Chester  and  Bedford  in  New  York,  he  removed  in  1721  to 
Pennsylvania,  and  took  charge  of  two  congregations,  Ben- 
Salem  and  Smithfield  in  the  county  of  Bucks.  Five  years 
later  he  accepted  a  call  to  a  congregation  in  the  same 
county,  at  a  point  afterwards  called  the  Forks  of  the  Ne- 
shaminy.  Whether  a  church  had  been  organized  before  his 
arrival  cannot  now  be  positively  determined.  A  house  of 
worship  was  built  about  1727.  Here  he  lived  for  twenty 
years,  during  sixteen  of  which  he  was  actively  engaged  as 
the  pastor  of  the  church.  His  personality  is  not  well  enough 
known  to  enable  one  to  draw  his  portrait  even  in  outline. 
Two  things  concerning  him,  however,  are  well  known  :  his 
religious  and  missionary  zeal  and  his  exceptional  attainments 
in  classical  learnino'.  "  While  an  orthodox  creed  and  a  de- 
cent  external  conduct,"  writes  Archibald  Alexander,  "were 
the  only  points  upon  which  inquiry  was  made  when  per- 
sons were  admitted  to  the  communion  of  the  church,  and 
while  it  was  very  much  a  matter  of  course  for  all  who  had 
been  baptized  in  infancy  to  be  received  into  full  communion 
at  the  proper  age,"^  this  did  not  satisfy  Mr.  Tennent.  The 
evangelical  spirit  which  burned  in  the  members  of  the  Holy 
Club  at  Oxford  inflamed  the  pastor  of  Neshaminy.  He  de- 
sired as  communicants  only  the  subjects  of  a  conscious 
supernatural  experience.  When  Whitefield  first  visited 
Philadelphia,  Mr.  Tennent  called  upon  him  at  once,  and 
they  soon  became  intimate  friends.  He  admired  White- 
field's  oratory,  and  was  in  full  sympathy  with  his  methods 
as  a  revivalist.  Whitefield  cordially  reciprocated  Tennent's 
friendship.      He  found  no  one  in  the  colonies  in  whose  com- 

^  "  Log  College,"  p.  23. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  327 

panionship  he  was  more  strengthened  and  comforted.  He 
spent  many  days  at  the  Forks  of  the  Neshaminy,  and  it  is 
to  his  journal  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  best  description 
of  the  Log  CoUege. 

Wilham  Tennent's  high  sense  of  the  value  of  a  liberal 
education,  his  desire  to  extend  its  benefits  to  his  four  sons, 
his  determination  to  relieve,  so  far  as  he  might  be  able,  the 
destitution  of  ministers  in  the  church  with  which  he  was 
connected,  and  his  ambition  to  propagate  his  own  views  of 
preaching  and  of  the  religious  life,  led  him,  soon  after  his 
settlement  at  Neshaminy,  to  open  a  school  of  liberal  learn- 
ing and  of  divinity.  His  cousin,  James  Logan,  Secretary 
of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  gave  him  for  this  purpose 
fifty  acres  on  Neshaminy  Creek.  There  he  raised  a  log 
building  as  a  study  for  his  pupils.  It  was  as  humble  as  the 
cabin  of  reeds  and  stubble  which  Abelard  built  for  himself 
at  Nogent,  and  which  was  made  famous  by  the  flocking  of 
students  from  Paris  to  hear  the  words  of  the  master.  "  The 
place  where  the  young  men  study  now,"  writes  George 
Whitefield  in  his  journal,  "is  in  contempt  called  the  College. 
It  is  a  log  house,  about  twenty  foot  long,  and  near  as  many 
broad ;  and  to  me  it  resembled  the  schools  of  the  old  proph- 
ets. For  that  their  habitations  were  mean,  and  that  they 
sought  not  great  things  for  themselves,  is  plain  from  that 
passage  of  Scripture  wherein  we  are  told  that,  at  the  feast 
of  the  sons  of  the  prophets,  one  of  them  put  on  the  pot, 
whilst  the  others  went  to  fetch  some  herbs  out  of  the  field. 
From  this  despised  place,  seven  or  eight  ministers  of  Jesus 
have  lately  been  sent  forth,  more  are  almost  ready  to  be 
sent,  and  a  foundation  is  now  being  laid  for  the  instruction 
of  many  others."  The  annals  of  the  Log  College  are  "  the 
short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor."  Its  life  was  brief, 
and  of  those  who  studied  there  we  possess  no  complete  list. 
Most  of  the  ministers  of  Pennsylvania,  while  they  probably 


328  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

regarded  it  with  fear,  spoke  of  it  with  contempt.  When 
Tennent  died  no  one  continued  his  work.  The  building  has 
long  since  decayed  or  been  destroyed,  and  its  site  within 
the  fifty  acres  is  not  clearly  known.  But  the  work  done  by 
the  Log  College  was  a  great  work.  Tennent  convinced  the 
Presbyterians  of  the  Middle  Colonies  that  they  need  not 
and  ought  not  to  wait  upon  Great  Britain  and  New  Eng- 
land for  an  educated  ministry ;  and  through  his  pupils  and 
the  pupils  of  his  pupils,  he  did  more  than  any  other  man  of 
his  day  to  destroy  customs  which  were  as  bonds  to  the 
church,  and  to  teach  his  brethren  that  evangelical  feeling 
and  missionary  zeal  were  necessary  to  fulfil  the  mission 
of  his  communion  in  the  growing  colonies.  "  To  William 
Tennent,  above  all  others,  is  owing  the  prosperity  and 
enlargement  of  the  Presbyterian  Church."^ 

From  this  school  were  graduated  the  four  sons  of  the 
elder  Tennent,  and  not  a  few  others,  who  became  eminent 
in  the  church;  some  of  them  in  connection  with  the  early 
life  of  Princeton  College,  and,  before  that  college  was 
founded,  as  founders  of  institutions  like  the  one  from  which 
they  came.  One  of  these  was  Samuel  Blair,  who  estab- 
lished a  classical  school  at  Fagg's  Manor  or  New  London- 
derry, where  John  Rogers,  afterwards  pastor  of  the  Brick 
Church  in  New  York  City ;  Samuel  Davies,  Princeton's 
fourth  President;  and  William  Maclay,  United  States  sen- 
ator from  Pennsylvania,  were  educated.  Indeed,  it  may  be 
said  that  by  nothing  is  the  high  character  of  the  Log 
College  education  more  satisfactorily  evidenced  than  by  the 
attainments  and  efficiency  of  Samuel  Blair  and  his  brother 
John,  upon  both  of  whom  Tennent  had  impressed  his 
religious  views  and  his  zeal  for  the  higher  learning.  No 
less  distinguished  than  the  Blairs  was  Samuel  Finley,  who 
succeeded  Davies  as  President  of  Princeton  College.     That 

'  Webster,  "  Hist.  Pres.  Church." 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  329 

he  was  one  of  Tennent's  students  is  not  certain,  but  is 
in  the  highest  degree  probable.  Tennent's  school  was  in 
existence  when  Finley  came  from  Ireland  to  Philadelphia 
to  continue  his  studies,  and  there  was  no  other  school  near 
at  hand  where  students  for  the  ministry  were  educated. 
He  united  with  Tennent's  presbytery  and  was  licensed  by 
it.  When  he  became  a  pastor  he  opened  a  school  like  the 
Log  College,  and  during  all  his  life  he  supported  the  views 
which  were  associated  with  Tennent's  name.  What  Samuel 
Blair  did  at  Fagg's  Manor,  Samuel  Finley  did  at  Notting- 
ham, Maryland.  He  founded  a  seminary  for  classical  study 
and  for  the  training  of  ministers.  How  important  its  career 
was  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  "at  one  time  there  was 
a  cluster  of  young  men  at  the  school,  who  all  were  after- 
wards distinguished,  and  some  of  them  among  the  very 
first  men  in  the  country :  Governor  Martin,  of  North  Car- 
olina; Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  and  his  brother, 
Jacob  Rush,  an  eminent  and  pious  judge;  Ebenezer  Haz- 
ard, Esq.,  of  Philadelphia;  Rev.  James  Waddell,  D.  D.,  of 
Virginia;  Rev.  Dr.  McWhorter,  of  Newark,  N.  J.;  Colonel 
John  Bayard,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives; 
Governor  Henry,  of  Maryland ;  and  the  Rev.  William  M. 
Tennent,  of  Abbington,  Pa."^  Less  successful,  because  of 
the  temper  of  the  principal,  was  the  school  of  another  pupil, 
John  Roan  of  Derry. 

The  ministers  educated  in  these  schools  soon  showed 
themselves  equal  to  positions  in  the  colonies  usually  occu- 
pied by  graduates  of  the  universities  of  Scotland  or  of  the 
New  England  colleges ;  and  it  was  their  conspicuous  suc- 
cess as  pastors  or  teachers  which  led  the  Synod  to  take  ac- 
tion in  1739  looking  to  the  establishment  of  a  college  for 
the  whole  church.  In  that  year  an  overture  for  erecting  a 
seminary  of  learning  was  presented  to  the  Synod.  The 
»  "  Log  College,"  pp.  305-306. 


330  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

Synod  unanimously  approved  the  design  of  it,  and  in  order 
to  accomplish  it  did  nominate  Messrs.  Pemberton,  Dick- 
inson, Cross  and  Anderson,  two  of  whom,  if  they  can  be 
prevailed  upon,  to  be  sent  home  to  Europe  to  prosecute 
this  affair  with  proper  directions.  And  in  order  to  this,  it  is 
appointed  that  the  committee  of  the  Synod,  with  correspon- 
dents from  every  Presbytery,  meet  in  Philadelphia  the  third 
Wednesday  of  August  next.  And  if  it  be  found  necessary 
that  Mr.  Pemberton  should  go  to  Boston  pursuant  to  this 
design,  it  is  ordered  that  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  sup- 
ply his  pulpit  during  his  absence.^ 

Two  of  the  committee,  Messrs.  Pemberton  and  Dickinson, 
were  natives  of  New  England;  Pemberton  was  graduated 
at  Harvard  and  Dickinson  at  Yale.  Dr.  Anderson  was 
from  Scotland,  and  Mr.  Cross  was  from  Ireland.  The  com- 
mittee at  once  entered  upon  its  duties.  But  the  period  did 
not  favor  the  prosecution  of  the  scheme.  "  While  the  com- 
mittee concluded  upon  calling  the  whole  Synod  together 
for  the  purpose  of  prosecuting  the  overture  respecting  a 
seminary  of  learning,  yet  the  war  breaking  out  between 
England  and  Spain,  the  calling  of  the  Synod  was  omitted, 
and  the  whole  affair  laid  aside  for  that  time."-  This  was 
the  last  legislative  action  taken  upon  the  subject  by  the 
united  church.  Had  the  Synod  founded  a  college,  it  is  not 
probable  that  Princeton  would  have  been  selected  as  its  site  ; 
and,  had  Princeton  been  selected,  the  institution,  by  its  of- 
ficial relation  to  the  church,  would  have  had  a  character 
and  career  very  different  from  those  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey. 

But  a  conflict  now  began  within  the  Synod,  which  led  to 
its  division  in  1742.  The  conflict  and  the  resulting  division 
were  due  to  the   activity  of  two   parties   holding  opposing 

'   "Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church."     Minutes,  1739. 
-  "  Records  of  the  Presbyterian  Church."     Minutes,  1740. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  331 

opinions  as  to  the  value  of  vivid  religious  experiences,  and 
of  preaching  designed  immediately  to  call  forth  religious 
confession,  and  as  to  the  learning  requisite  for  admission  to 
the  ministry.  On  the  one  hand  was  the  party  of  the  Log 
College.  A  number  of  its  graduates  and  friends  had  been 
erected  into  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick.  This  Pres- 
bytery, in  violation  of  a  rule  of  the  Synod,  had  licensed 
John  Rowland,  a  student  of  the  Log  College,  and  had 
intruded  him  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery  of  Phila- 
delphia: for  the  Synod  had  taken  action  that  no  candidate 
for  the  ministry,  having  only  a  private  education,  should  be 
licensed  by  any  Presbytery  until  such  candidate's  learning 
had  been  passed  upon  by  a  committee  appointed  for  that 
purpose.  The  Synod  responded  by  a  resolution  which 
characterized  the  Presbytery's  conduct  as  disorderly,  and 
admonished  that  body  to  avoid  "such  divisive  courses"  in 
the  future.  Moreover,  the  Synod  refused  to  recognize 
Rowland  as  a  minister,  and  ordered  him  to  submit  to  the  ex- 
aminations appointed  for  those  who  had  only  a  private  edu- 
cation. The  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick 
were  intensely  indignant.  They  asserted  that  the  Synod's 
action  reflected  seriously  upon  the  character  of  the  training 
received  at  the  Log  College ;  that  it  showed  the  Synod  to 
be  absolutely  blind  to  the  religious  needs  of  the  growing 
Colonies  ;  that  it  was  an  undeserved  rebuke  administered  to 
the  man  who,  more  intelligently  and  faithfully  than  any 
other  minister  of  the  church,  had  labored  and  sacrificed  in 
the  interest  of  classical  and  theological  education  ;  and  that 
it  had  its  origin  in  the  Synod's  wilful  opposition  to  vital  re- 
ligion. The  other  party,  to  which  a  majority  of  the  Synod 
belonged,  was  recruited  largely  from  the  Scotch-Irish  clergy 
of  Pennsylvania.  Between  these  two  parties  stood  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York,  led  by  Dickinson  and  Pemberton. 
What  the  members  of  New  York  Presbytery  could  do  in 


332  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

the  way  of  pacification  they  did.  But  the  conflict  from  its 
beginning  was  too  bitter  to  be  composed,  and  it  was  made 
more  bitter  by  the  visit  to  America  of  George  Whitefield, 
and  the  participation  of  the  Log  College  and  the  New 
Brunswick  men  in  Whitefield's  revival  measures.  A  di- 
vision of  the  Synod  was  inevitable.  It  took  place  in  1742. 
The  Presbytery  of  New  York,  though  separating  in  that 
year  from  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia,  did  not  at  once  unite 
with  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick.  But  negotiations 
for  such  a  union  were  soon  begun.  In  1745  the  union  was 
effected,  and  the  Synod  of  New  York,  formed  by  the  union 
of  the  Presbyteries  of  New  York,  New  Brunswick  and  New 
Castle,  the  last  made  up  wholly  of  Log  College  men,  was 
constituted. 

This  Synod,  it  will  be  observed,  was  a  union  of  New 
England  clergymen  and  those  who  were  immediately  con- 
nected with  the  College  on  the  Neshaminy,  or  who  sym- 
pathized with  the  aims  and  measures  of  its  founder.  During 
the  three  years  intervening  between  the  division  of  the 
church  and  the  formation  of  the  new  Synod  of  New  York, 
many  conferences  were  held  and  letters  were  written  on  the 
subject  of  a  college.  Owing  to  this  schism  it  was  impossi- 
ble for  those  now  connected  with  the  Synod  of  New  York 
to  take  part  in  founding  that  "  seminary  of  learning"  which, 
in  1739,  the  undivided  Synod  had  determined  to  organize. 
The  adoption  of  the  Log  College  as  the  College  of  the 
Synod  was  not  favorably  regarded  for  several  reasons.  It 
was  too  far  from  New  York ;  it  was  within  the  limits  of  the 
home  of  the  other  Synod  ;  its  plan  was  too  narrow  ;  and,  be- 
sides, the  elder  Tennent  died  the  very  year  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  New  York  Synod.  The  work  of  the  Log  College 
was  over.  Moreover,  large-minded  leaders  like  Dickinson 
and  Burr  wanted  a  college  organized  on  a  plan  far  larger 
than  that  of  the  Neshaminy  school.     Nor  were  they  at  all 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  333 

disposed  to  wait  for  synodical  action.  The  character  of  the 
clerical  promoters  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  their  train- 
ing, and  their  actual  behavior  make  it  not  only  credible,  but 
in  the  highest  degree  probable,  that  if  a  college  subject  to 
the  supervision  of  a  church  judicatory  was  ever  before  their 
minds,  it  was  thought  of  only  to  be  rejected.  To  quote  the 
words  of  Dr.  Maclean,  the  historian  of  the  College,  they 
"  most  probably  neither  sought  nor  desired  the  assistance 
of-  the  Synod."  Besides  this  underlying  indisposition  to 
invoke  ecclesiastical  action,  there  were  special  reasons  at 
this  time  for  not  allowing  the  subject  to  be  brought  before 
the  Synod  for  discussion.  There  were  a  few  in  the  Synod 
of  New  York  who,  hoping  for  a  reunion  of  the  divided 
church,  might  propose  cooperation  with  the  Synod  of  Phila- 
delphia in  the  support  of  the  college  which  the  latter  Synod 
was  expecting  to  open  at  New  London  in  Pennsylvania. 
Gilbert  Tennent's  opposition  to  any  large  plan  had  to  be 
anticipated,  for  he  had  always  expressed  a  preference  for 
private  and  local  schools.  And  Samuel  Blair,  who  was 
conducting  successfully  an  academy  at  Fagg's  Manor,  could 
scarcely  be  expected  to  favor  any  scheme  which  would  end 
the  work  to  which  he  had  given  his  life.  Considerations 
like  these  determined  the  promoters  to  independent  but 
associated  action.  Three  of  them,  Jonathan  Dickinson, 
Aaron  Burr  and  John  Pierson,  were  graduates  of  Yale ;  the 
fourth,  Ebenezer  Pemberton,  was  graduated  at  Harvard. 
The  men  from  Yale  had  seen  in  their  own  alma  mater  what 
independent  action  could  effect,  and  before  the  minds  of 
the  four  ministers  and  the  three  laymen  who  acted  with 
them  was  present  an  ideal  very  different  from  that  which 
Tennent  had  made  actual  in  the  Log  College.  Certainly, 
with  whatever  design  they  began  the  project,  when,  after 
conference  and  discussion,  they  proceeded  to  final  action, 
they  did  far  more  than  organize  a  college  for  the  education 


o 


34  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 


in  the  liberal  arts  of  candidates  for  the  holy  ministry.  That 
this  function  was  in  their  apprehension  important,  and  even 
eminent,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  But  this  was  only  one  of 
several  functions  of  the  College  of  the  higher  learning  for 
the  middle  Colonies.  The  benefits  to  be  conferred  by  it  on 
society  at  large  in  the  rising  communities  of  these  Colonies, 
and  especially  on  the  other  liberal  professions,  were  quite  as 
distinctly  before  the  minds  of  the  promoters  and  first  trus- 
tees of  Princeton  College  as  were  its  relations  to  clerical 
training.  This  is  made  clear  both  by  the  provisions  of  the 
two  charters  and  by  the  social  and  political  standing  of  the 
trustees  these  charters  name. 


III.  The  Founding  of  the  College.     The  Two 

Charters. 

The  two  political  divisions  of  New  Jersey,  the  East  and 
the  West,  were  united  in  1703.  Up  to  1738  the  Governor 
of  New  York  represented  the  sovereign  in  the  province  of 
the  Jerseys  also.  In  that  year  New  Jersey  was  granted  a 
separate  executive,  and  Lewis  Morris  was  appointed  gov- 
ernor. He  continued  in  office  until  his  death  in  1746.  On 
the  death  of  Governor  Morris,  John  Hamilton,  President  of 
the  Council,  became  the  acting  governor  by  operation  of 
law ;  and  it  was  of  Governor  Hamilton,  on  October  22, 
1746,  that  the  charter  with  which  the  College  began  its  life 
was  granted.  The  year  before,  the  ministers  whose  names 
have  been  mentioned,  and  their  associates,  William  Smith, 
William  Peartree  Smith  and  Peter  Van  Brugh  Livingston, 
had  been  refused  a  charter  by  Governor  Morris.  The  rea- 
sons for  his  refusal  can  be  inferred  from  his  views  and  his 
previous  conduct.  Apart  from  the  doubt  he  may  have  felt 
as  to  his  right  to  bestow  it  before  receiving  permission  from 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  335 

the  home  government,  he  beheved  that  he  would  be  doing 
an  illegal  or,  at  least,  an  impolitic  act,  if  he  granted  the 
rights  of  a  corporation,  for  educational  purposes,  to  minis- 
ters and  laymen  not  in  communion  with  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. He  had  already  refused  a  charter  to  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  New  York,  for  the  reason  that  there 
was  no  precedent  for  conferring  that  privilege  on  a  company 
of  "  Dissenters." 

But  the  death  of  Governor  Morris  gave  to  the  promoters 
of  the  College  new  hope,  and  they  presented  the  same  peti- 
tion to  Governor  Hamilton.  He  was  the  son  of  Andrew 
Hamilton,  who  had  been  governor  of  East  and  West  Jersey 
for  a  period  of  ten  years.  The  fact  that  Andrew  Hamilton 
was  a  native  of  Scotland  led  him  to  look  with  favor,  cer- 
tainly with  less  opposition  than  that  displayed  by  either 
Lord  Cornbury  or  Governor  Morris,'  on  the  rapid  growth 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Colonies.  His  son  John, 
himself  perhaps  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  shared  these  views 
and  feelings.  At  all  events,  he  granted  the  petition,  and 
signed  the  charter.  This  was  the  first  college  charter  con- 
ferred in  America  by  the  independent  action  of  a  provincial 
governor.  The  charter  of  Harvard  was  the  act  of  the  leg- 
islature of  Massachusetts ;  that  of  Yale  the  act  of  the  legis- 
lature of  Connecticut ;  that  of  William  and  Mary  was 
granted  immediately  by  those  sovereigns.     The  precedent 

'  Lord  Cornbury  and  Governor  Morris,  though  they  were  both  opposed  to 
non-conformists,  were  alil<e  in  nothing  else.  The  latter,  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  opposed  vigorously  the  former's  tyranny.  Governor  Morris  was  on 
the  whole  an  admirable  governor.  And  as  to  his  opposition  to  the  charter, 
Dr.  Maclean  makes  the  following  remark :  "  In  this  matter  the  friends  of  the 
Church  [of  England]  were  in  all  probability  no  more  unreasonable  than  the 
Dissenters  themselves  would  have  been,  had  their  respective  conditions  been 
reversed.  It  was  reserved  for  those  not  connected  with  established  churches 
to  be  liberal-minded  and  regardful  of  the  rights  of  others." — "  History  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,"  Vol.  I,  p.  43. 


336  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

made  by  Governor  Hamilton  was  followed  by  other  gov- 
ernors ;  and  its  propriety  was  never  afterward  officially 
questioned.  Indeed,  it  was  never  publicly  questioned,  ex- 
cept in  a  newspaper  controversy  in  which  only  private  and 
irresponsible  opinions  were  expressed  by  writers  who  did 
not  even  sign  their  names. 

The  name  of  John  Hamilton,  therefore,  should  be  given 
a  conspicuous  place  in  any  list  of  the  founders  of  Princeton 
University.  He  granted  the  first  charter ;  he  granted  it 
against  the  precedent  made  by  the  governor  whom  he  suc- 
ceeded in  the  executive  chair ;  and  he  granted  it  with  alac- 
rity, certainly  without  vexatious  delay.  What  is  more 
remarkable,  at  a  time  when  Episcopalian  governors  were 
ill-disposed  to  grant  to  Presbyterians  ecclesiastical  or  even 
educational  franchises,  he  —  an  Episcopalian  —  gave  this 
charter  to  a  board  of  trust  composed  wholly  of  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  Though  the  son  of  a  governor, 
and  acting  as  a  royal  governor,  he  made  no  demand  that 
the  government  be  given  a  substantive  part  in  its  adminis- 
tration ;  and  though  granting  the  franchise  as  governor  of 
a  single  province,  he  gave  to  it  a  board  of  trustees  in  which 
four  provinces  were  represented.  For  the  times  in  which  he 
lived,  his  conduct  evinces  exceptional  large-mindedness.  It 
appears  to  have  proceeded  from  the  confidence  he  felt  that 
a  company  of  reputable  gentlemen,  of  whatever  Christian 
communion,  and  however  widely  their  homes  might  be 
separated,  who  were  willing  to  give  their  time,  money  and 
labor  to  the  founding  and  maintenance  of  a  college  of  liberal 
learning  for  men  of  all  classes  of  belief,  must  be  worthy  of 
the  confidence  and  protection  of  the  sovereign  political 
power.  It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  projectors  of 
the  College  impressed  upon  it  an  unsectarian  character  by 
declining  to  seek  the  aid  and  oversight  of  the  Presbyterian 
Synod,  and  that  nevertheless  its  control  by  Presbyterians 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  337 

made  it  of  necessity  an  inter-colonial  institution.  It  is  but 
just  to  the  memory  of  President  Hamilton  to  add,  that  legal 
effect  was  first  given  both  to  this  religiously  liberal  proposal 
and  to  this  national  outlook  by  the  signature  of  an  acting 
royal  governor  who  was  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Unfortunately,  the  first  charter  was  not  recorded,  and  it  is 
on  that  account  impossible  to  compare  its  exact  language 
with  that  of  the  second.  But  the  "  Pennsylvania  Gazette"  of 
August  the  thirteenth,  1747,  published  an  advertisement  of 
the  College,  which  contains  the  first  charter's  substance.  In 
this  advertisement  it  is  stated  that  the  charter  named  seven 
trustees,  the  four  clerical  founders  and  William  Smith,  Peter 
Van  Brugh  Livingston  and  William  Peartree  Smith.  To 
these  original  trustees  was  given  full  power  to  choose  five 
others,  who  should  exercise  equal  power  and  authority  with 
themselves.  The  five  chosen  were  the  Rev.  Richard  Treat, 
and  four  clerical  representatives  of  the  Log  College  interest. 
The  charter  constitutes  the  trustees  a  body  corporate  with 
full  power  to  act  as  such,  and  to  convey  their  power  to  the 
successors  whom  they  might  elect.  In  the  exercise  of  this 
power,  however,  no  acts  or  ordinances  for  the  government 
of  the  College  could  be  passed,  repugnant  to  the  laws  of 
Great  Britain,  or  of  the  province  of  New  Jersey,  and  pro- 
vision is  distinctly  made  that  no  person  shall  be  debarred  of 
any  of  the  privileges  of  the  College  on  account  of  any  spec- 
ulative principles  of  religion,  but  "  those  of  every  religious 
profession  have  equal  privilege  and  advantage  of  education  in 
said  college."  The  charter  gives  to  the  trustees  and  their  suc- 
cessors the  power  to  give  any  such  degrees  as  are  given  in  any 
of  the  universities  or  colleges  in  the  realm  of  Great  Britain.^ 

'  Reprinted  in  "Princeton  College  Bulletin,"  Feb.,  1891.  Mr.  William  Nelson, 
to  whose  studies  of  the  early  history  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  both  the 
State  and  the  University  are  indebted,  brought  it  to  the  notice  of  the  Fac- 
ulty.    But  for  him  we  should  not  know  the  names  of  all  the  first  trustees. 


338  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

Whether  in  their  respective  preambles  there  was  any  dif- 
ference between  the  the  first  and  second  charters,  no  one 
knows  and  it  were  idle  to  conjecture.     So  far  as  appears, 
the  scope  of  the  institution,  its  educational  design,  the  meth- 
ods appointed  for  fulfilling  this  design,  the  powers  of  the 
governing  board,  the  degrees  to  be  granted  and  the  entire 
framework  of  a  college  or  university,  as  set   forth  in   the 
second  charter,  were  set  forth  in  the  first,  with  the  same 
precision,  in  the  same  order,  and  in  the  same  general  lan- 
guage.    The  second   charter  was   sought   by  the   original 
trustees,  or  suggested  by  the  Governor  and  agreed  on  by 
both,  in  order  to  increase  the  number  of  trustees,  to  intro- 
duce into  the  Board  representatives  of  the  provincial  govern- 
ment, to  give  laymen  of  other  religious  communions  a  share 
in   the  administration,  to  secure   the    favor  of  civilians  in 
Philadelphia,  and  to  make  the  lay  trustees  equal  in  number 
to  those  who  were  clergymen.      These  statements  at  least 
indicate  the  only  changes   that  were  actually  made.     One 
change  proposed,  to  give  to  four  members  of  the  Provincial 
Council  of  New  Jersey  places,  ex  officio,  on  the  Board,  was 
not  adopted.     What  would  have  been  the  effect  of  its  adop- 
tion no  one  can  tell.     Possibly,  it  would  have  taken  from 
the  College  its  inter-colonial  character  and  made  it  a  merely 
local  and  provincial  institution.     But  this  is  not  certain.     A 
similar  provision  in  the  charter  of  Yale  did  not  prevent  its 
development  into  a  great  national  university.     The  changes 
were  the  result  of  friendly  correspondence  and  conference 
between  the  promoters  of  the  College  and  Governor  Bel- 
cher ;  but  it  is  not  possible  to  say  in  whose  minds  they  sev- 
erally originated. 

In  changing  the  constitution  of  a  corporation,  either  the 
charter  may  be  amended  or  a  new  charter  may  be  granted. 
Why,  in  the  case  of  the  College,  the  latter  method  was 
adopted  is  not  perfectly  clear.     It  may  be  that  this  was  re- 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  339 

garded  as  the  more  convenient  method,  or  that,  even  if  not 
so  convenient,  it  was  thought  either  safer  or  more  honora- 
ble, or  both,  to  hold  a  charter  from  a  royal  governor  than  to 
hold  one  from  a  president  of  the  Council.  Possibly  some 
of  the  steps  taken  by  the  government  in  issuing  the  first 
charter  were  irregular,  or  possibly  some  of  the  steps  neces- 
sary to  be  taken  were  omitted.  Three  facts  are  significant. 
No  mention  of  the  charter  of  1746,  so  far  as  can  now  be  as- 
certained, was  made  in  the  Council's  journal.  In  1755  the 
first  charter  was  attacked  by  a  writer  in  the  "New  York 
Gazette,"  and  a  reply  by  a  friend  of  the  College  was  pub- 
lished, but  in  this  reply  the  first  charter,  far  from  being  de- 
fended, is  pronounced  "  probably  invalid,"  and  the  tone  of 
the  note  is  one  of  felicitation  that  the  legality  of  the  College 
rests  securely  on  the  charter  of  1748.  When  Nassau  Hall 
was  built,  the  Trustees  presented  an  address  to  the  Governor 
who  gave  the  second  charter,  in  which  they  welcomed  him, 
not  only  as  patron  and  benefactor,  but  as  "  founder  "  also. 
These  facts  justify  and  almost  compel  the  belief,  that  the 
conviction  was  general,  that  a  cloud  rested  on  the  College's 
title  to  its  franchise,  which  could  be  dissipated  only  —  or  at 
least  be  best  removed  —  by  an  absolutely  new  charter.  But 
they  do  not  at  all  warrant  the  statement  that  the  first  charter 
was  impotent  and  void.  It  was  actually  operative  until  the 
new  charter  was  granted ;  and,  had  it  not  been  superseded, 
it  would  have  continued  operative  until,  challenged  in  the 
courts  of  the  province,  a  decision  had  been  rendered  against 
it.  Many  of  the  official  acts  of  governors  and  legislatures, 
if  tested  in  the  courts,  would  be  held  illegal,  and  some  of 
them  so  illegal  as  to  be  invalid.  But,  never  being  chal- 
lenged, they  have  been  just  as  potent  as  if  they  had  complied 
with  every  constitutional  demand.  The  first  charter  of  the 
College,  in  its  sphere,  had  certainly  all  the  potency  which  acts 
of  the  kind  just  described  have  in  their  spheres.     Moreover, 


340  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

we  have  not  at  this  late  day  knowledge  enough  of  the  facts 
of  the  case  to  assert  with  confidence  what,  if  the  case  had 
been  tried,  the  decision  of  the  court  would  have  been.  And 
even  if  it  could  now  be  satisfactorily  proved,  that,  of  the 
steps  necessary  to  be  taken,  enough  were  omitted  to  make 
it  certain  that  the  first  charter  would  have  been  adjudged 
illegal,  it  never  was.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  granted ;  it 
was  announced ;  the  College  was  advertised  and  opened  on 
its  basis;  and  it  was  called  an  "infant  college,"  and  one  to 
be  "adopted,"  by  the  very  governor  who  granted  the  new 
charter.  Let  it  even  be  supposed,  that  Governor  Hamilton, 
in  granting  the  charter,  was  guilty  of  unlawful  usurpation 
of  power.  Louis  XVIII  regarded  Napoleon  I  as  a  usurper, 
and  Charles  II  so  regarded  Oliver  Cromwell.  But  neither 
the  Bourbon  nor  the  Stuart  king  held  that  the  franchises 
granted  under  the  government  of  his  predecessor  were  for 
that  reason  null  and  void.  Governor  Belcher  and  his  Coun- 
cil, for  reasons  not  clearly  known  to  us  but  satisfactory  to 
themselves,  granted  a  new  charter  instead  of  amending  the 
old  one.  But  that  is  no  good  reason  for  taking  a  position 
which  would  compel  the  removal  of  the  name  of  Jonathan 
Dickinson  from  the  list  of  the  presidents,  and  the  name  of 
John  Hamilton  from  the  list  of  the  founders  of  the  College.-^ 

'  It  is  true,  as  is  said  above,  that  a  friend  of  the  College,  writing  in  the  "  New 
York  Gazette,"  expresses  the  belief  that  the  first  charter  was  "  probably  in- 
valid." But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  fears  were  expressed  by  a  devoted 
friend  of  the  College  that  the  second  charter  might  be  successfully  attacked  on 
legal  grounds.  When  Mr.  Tennent  and  Mr.  Davies  were  in  Europe,  Tennent 
thought  well  of  applying  for  aid  to  some  members  of  the  courts,  particularly 
the  lord  chancellor.  Davies  says,  "  I  was  afraid,  in  case  the  College  were 
discountenanced  by  them,  they  would  find  some  flaw  in  the  charter,  and  so 
overset  it."  Davies  was  speaking  of  the  second  charter.  He  referred  the 
case  to  his  friend  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stenet,  who,  he  says,  agreed  with  him  fully. 
Stenet  himself  went  afterward,  not  to  the  lord  chancellor,  but  to  Lord  Duplin. 
He  consulted  with  him  in  confidence.  What  Lord  Duplin  said  about  the 
charter  we  do  not  know.     All  that  we  know  is  that  he  assured  Mr.  Stenet 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  341 

The  vacancy  created  in  the  office  of  governor  by  the 
death  of  Lewis  Morris  in  1746  was  filled  by  appointment, 
in  1747,  of  Jonathan  Belcher.  Governor  Belcher  was  a 
native  of  Massachusetts.  His  father,  a  man  of  large  estate, 
had  been  a  member  of  the  Council  of  that  Colony.  The 
son  was  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1699.  Upon  his  grad- 
uation he  visited  Europe  as  a  gentleman  of  fortune,  and 
spent  six  years  in  Great  Britain  and  on  the  Continent.  He 
was  received  at  the  Court  of  Hanover,  where  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Sophia,  the  ancestress  of  those  electors  who 
became  kings  of  England.  On  his  return  to  Boston,  he 
became  a  merchant.  In  1729  he  was  appointed  the  agent 
in  England  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts,  and  in  1730 
governor  of  the  Colony,  an  office  he  retained  until  1741. 
During  his  administration  he  was  actively  interested  in  Har- 
vard College.  He  took  advantage  of  the  opportunities  his 
position  gave  him  to  promote  what  he  believed  to  be  its 
welfare.  He  was  not  only  an  alumnus,  but,  as  governor  of 
the  Colony,  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Overseers.  His 
influence  seems  to  have  been  exerted  to  compose  the  dif- 
ficulties between  the  two  ecclesiastical  parties  which  at  that 
period  were  struggling  for  the  control  of  the  institution. 
He  was  a  man  of  active  intellectual  sympathies  and  re- 
ligious character.  Such  a  man,  coming  to  New  Jersey  as  its 
chief  executive,  would  be  disposed  to  take  a  deep  interest 
in  the  prosperity  of  the  new  "seminary  of  learning."  He 
would  easily  be  interested  in  the  project  of  the  seven  gradu- 
ates of  New  England  colleges  who  were  among  its  sponsors. 

that  he  would  do  nothing  to  their  injury. — "  Dr.  Maclean's  History  of  the 
College,"  Vol.  I,  p.  233.  The  truth  is  that  mere  private  opinions  never  set- 
tled the  question  of  the  validity  of  any  charter.  An  actually  existing  and  oper- 
ative charter  can  be  adjudged  invalid  only  by  the  proper  court  of  law.  To 
postdate  the  founding  of  the  college  two  years,  for  the  reason  that  private 
individuals  thought  the  first  charter  illegal  or  invalid,  would  be  not  only  un- 
warrantable, but  highly  reprehensible. 


342  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

Governor  Belcher,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  New  Jersey, 
in  August,  1747,  began  to  think  and  write  about  the  Col- 
lege. As  early  as  October  of  that  year,  having  received 
from  President  Dickinson  a  catalogue  of  the  institution,  he 
wrote  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pemberton,  then  pastor  in  New  York, 
expressing  the  hope  that  the  latter  would  come  to  Burling- 
ton and  "  lay  something  before  the  Provincial  Assembly 
of  New  Jersey  for  the  service  of  our  infant  College." 
Especially  interesting  is  the  Governor's  statement :  "  I  say 
our  infant  College,  because  I  have  determined  to  adopt  it 
for  a  child,  and  to  do  everything  in  my  power  to  promote 
and  establish  so  noble  an  undertaking."  Indeed,  he  wrote 
no  less  than  three  letters  about  the  College  on  the  same 
day ;  that  to  Mr.  Pemberton  already  quoted,  one  to  Jona- 
than Dickinson,  whose  death,  unknown  to  the  Governor,  had 
occurred  the  day  before,  and  one  to  Mr.  William  Peartree 
Smith  of  New  York,  in  which  the  phrase,  "  our  infant  Col- 
lege," is  repeated.  A  week  earlier  he  had  written  a  letter  to 
his  friend  Mr.  Walley  of  Boston,  in  which,  speaking  of  the 
College,  he  expressed  the  opinion  that  Princeton  was  the 
best  situation  for  it,  and  added,  "  I  believe  that  the  trustees 
must  have  a  new  and  better  charter,  which  I  will  give  to 
them."  Indeed,  until  the  second  charter  was  granted  on 
September  13,  1748,  no  one  seems  to  have  shown  a  greater 
interest' in  the  institution  than  the  Governor  of  the  Province. 
The  details  of  the  second  charter  were  the  subject  of  cor- 
respondence and  of  frequent  conferences  between  himself  and 
the  original  promoters.  One  important  question  discussed 
was  the  persons  to  be  named  as  the  board  of  trustees,  the 
board  to  which  the  property  of  the  College  was  to  be  in- 
trusted and  which  was  to  possess  plenary  power  in  admin- 
istration. The  interests  of  religion  were  cared  for  by  re- 
appointing the  clerical  trustees  under  the  first  charter,  except 
Jonathan  Dickinson,  who  had  died,  and  Samuel  Finley,  and 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  343 

by  adding  four  others.  All  of  the  four  were  members  of  the 
Synod  of  New  York,  except  David  Cowell,  pastor  of  the 
church  at  Trenton.  When  the  division  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  took  place  Mr.  Cowell  took  the  side  of  the  Synod  of 
Philadelphia,  but  he  was  not  a  violent  partisan.  Indeed,  he 
was  always  a  warm  friend  of  Samuel  Davies,  and  did  much 
afterward  to  induce  Davies  to  accept  the  presidency  of  the 
College.  Three  "  Log  College  "  ministers,  Gilbert  Tennent, 
William  Tennent,  Jr.,  and  Samuel  Blair,  who  were  trus- 
tees under  the  first,  are  named  in  the  second  charter.  The 
new  clerical  trustees  were  all  active  pastors. 

Governor  Belcher  desired  to  associate  the  institution  close- 
ly with  the  state.  For  eleven  years  he  had  been  governor 
of  the  Colonies  of  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts.  He 
was  always  disposed  strongly  to  assert  the  right  of  the  state 
to  a  large  place  in  all  great  projects  having  in  view  the  wel- 
fare of  the  people.  It  was  this  habit  of  strongly  asserting 
his  dignity  and  authority  as  governor  that  led  to  unfriendly 
relations  between  himself  and  the  people  of  Massachusetts, 
and  finally  to  his  dismissal,  as  it  was  the  lavish  expendi- 
ture of  his  private  resources  in  the  support  of  the  dignity  of 
his  office  during  his  official  life  in  his  native  province  that 
seriously  reduced  his  fortune.  His  correspondence  shows 
his  belief  in  the  high  value  of  the  services  which,  as  gov- 
ernor, he  could  render  to  the  new  college ;  and  it  was  quite 
in  keeping  with  his  views  and  previous  conduct  to  propose 
that  the  Governor  of  the  Province  and  several  of  his  Council 
should  be,  ex  officio,  members  of  the  corporation.  The  last 
clause  of  this  proposal  met  with  strenuous  and  successful 
opposition.  Whether  the  East  Jersey  and  New  York  trus- 
tees under  the  first  charter  opposed  it,  it  is  not  possible 
positively  to  say.  Whatever  they  may  have  thought  of  the 
gentlemen  who  composed  the  council  as  at  that  time  consti- 
tuted, it  was  probably  no  part  of  their  original  design  to 


344  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

give  a  place  to  the  official  element,  and  doubtless  they 
would  have  preferred  to  form  no  other  connection  with  the 
state  than  that  which  binds  every  corporation  to  the  gov- 
ernment which  creates  it.  The  opposition  to  both  clauses 
of  the  proposal  to  give  the  state,  as  such,  a  share  in  the  ad- 
ministration came  naturally  from  the  trustees  who  repre- 
sented the  Log  College,  and  especially  from  Governor 
Belcher's  intimate  friend,  Gilbert  Tennent,  then  the  pastor 
of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia.  Even 
the  innocent  provision  that  the  Governor  of  the  Province 
should  be,  ex  officio,  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  was 
introduced  against  Mr.  Tennent's  earnest,  indeed,  some- 
what indignant  remonstrance.  At  last  a  compromise 
was  made.  The  Governor  of  the  Province  was  made,  ex 
officio,  the  president,  and  four  members  of  the  Council  were 
named  as  trustees.  Bat  the  latter  were  not  named  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Council.  They  were  appointed  as  eminent  citi- 
zens of  the  Province,  and  their  names  appear  in  the  charter 
not  as  councillors,  but  as  individuals. 

It  is  to  the  Governor's  interest  in  the  College  that  we 
must  attribute  the  appointment  as  incorporators  of  three 
citizens  of  Philadelphia.  The  three  laymen  in  the  board 
under  the  first  charter  were  residents  of  New  York.  These 
were  retained,  but  Philadelphia  was  given  an  equal  number. 
These  were  the  Hon.  John  Kinsey,  formerly  attorney-gen- 
eral and  now  chief  justice  of  Pennsylvania,  the  Hon.  Ed- 
ward Shippen,  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and 
Mr.  Samuel  Hazard,  an  eminent  private  citizen.  "  In  the 
preparation  of  the  charter,"  says  Dr.  Maclean,  "  Governor 
Belcher  sought  Chief  Justice  Kinsey's  advice,  and  placed  it 
in  his  hands  for  revision  before  submitting  it  to  the  attorney- 
general  of  New  Jersey  for  his  approval."  In  making  these 
appointments.  Governor  Belcher  sought  for  the  College  the 
interest  not  only  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  but  also  of  its 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  345 

largest  religious  communion.  Both  Chief  Justice  Kinsey 
and  Judge  Shippen  were  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 

The  charter  which  names  these  trustees  recites,  as  the 
occasion  of  its  grant,  a  petition  presented  by  sundry  of  the 
subjects  of  the  King,  expressing  their  earnest  desire  that  a 
college  may  be  erected  in  the  Province  of  New  Jersey,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  said  province  and  others,  "  wherein  youth 
may  be  instructed  in  the  learned  languages  and  in  the  liberal 
arts  and  sciences,"  and  that  these  petitioners  have  expressed 
their  earnest  desire  that  those  of  every  religious  denomina- 
tion may  have  free  and  equal  liberty  and  advantages  of  edu- 
cation in  the  said  College,  any  different  sentiments  in  religion 
notwithstanding.  In  the  name  of  the  King,  therefore,  it  is 
granted  that  there  be  a  college  erected  to  be  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  The  trustees 
are  constituted  a  body  politic ;  and,  after  the  provision  is 
made  that  the  Governor  and  Commander-in-chief  of  the 
Province  of  New  Jersey,  for  the  time  being,  shall  be  trus- 
tees, the  original  corporators  are  named.  The  charter  was 
read  in  Council  on  September  13,  having  previously  been 
examined  by  the  attorney-general,  and  issued  on  the  next 
day,  September  14,  1748. 

Including  the  Governor,  there  were  twenty-three  trustees. 
Of  these  twelve  were  ministers  of  the  gospel,  all  of  whom 
were  liberally  educated.  Six  of  them  were  graduates  of 
Yale,  three  were  graduates  of  Harvard,  and  three  received 
their  training  under  the  elder  Tennent  at  the  Log  College. 
Of  the  lay  trustees,  Jonathan  Belcher  was  graduated  at 
Harvard,  and  William  Smith,  William  Peartree  Smith  and 
Peter  Livingston  at  Yale.  The  four  members  belonging 
to  the  Council  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  were  John 
Reading,  James  Hude,  Andrew  Johnston  and  Thomas 
Leonard.  Andrew  Johnston  was  elected  treasurer.  Three 
lay  trustees  were  from   New  York,   and  three  were  from 


34G  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Pennsylvania.  Two  of  the  trustees  belonged  to  the  Society 
of  Friends,  and  one  was  an  Episcopalian.  The  Governor 
was  born  of  Puritan  parents ;  in  his  younger  manhood  he 
was  devout  and  active  as  a  Puritan ;  in  middle  life  he  was 
in  sympathy  with  Whitefield  and  the  Tennents,  and  in  his 
last  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Elizabethtown.  The  remaining  trustees,  whether  laymen 
or  ministers,  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  names  of  two  that  appear  in  the  first  charter  do  not 
appear  in  the  second,  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  who 
had  died,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Finley.  Why  the  latter  was 
not  reappointed  is  not  known.  It  is  not  necessary  to  sup- 
pose that  a  clergyman  who  was  afterward  elected  president 
of  the  College  was  at  this  time  persona  non  grata  to  the 
Governor,  the  Council,  his  former  colleagues,  or  the  new  trus- 
tees. It  is  more  than  probable  that,  not  being  strong,  already 
burdened  by  the  cares  of  both  a  parish  and  an  academy  in 
Maryland,  and  living  at  a  long  distance  from  the  College, 
he  felt  himself  unable  to  endure  the  fatigues  of  travel  over 
poor  roads  to  the  necessarily  frequent  meetings  of  the  board. 

Few  boards  of  trust,  having  in  view  the  purposes  for 
which  they  were  created,  have  been  more  wisely  organized. 
In  their  several  spheres,  its  members  were  all  men  of  stand- 
ing. Many  of  them  had  already  shown  more  than  ordinary 
ability,  and  some  of  them  were  eminent.  In  the  persons  of 
the  trustees  three  of  the  middle  Colonies,  their  two  chief 
cities,  three  religious  communions,  commerce,  and  the  liberal 
professions,  and  the  royal  government  of  the  province  in 
which  the  College  had  its  home,  were  represented,  and  all 
who  had  share  in  its  administration  were  united  in  the 
earnest  purpose  to  make  it  worthy  of  its  franchises. 

The  charter  of  1748  is  to-day  the  charter  of  the  Univer- 
sity. It  has  been  amended  in  but  a  few,  and  these  not  im- 
portant, particulars.     Grateful  for  his  grant  of  the  charter, 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  347 

the  trustees  in  1755  addressed  Governor  Belcher  as  not 
only  the  patron  and  benefactor  of  the  College,  but  its 
"founder."  He  was  indeed  deeply  solicitous  for  its  wel- 
fare, and  as  governor,  citizen,  and  Christian  rendered  to  it 
great  and  conspicuous  services.  But  it  is  at  least  a  ques- 
tion whether  the  title  of  founder  applied  to  him  was  de- 
served, or  was  in  itself  happy.  It  was  certainly  unmerited, 
if  it  is  to  be  interpreted  as  excluding  either  his  predecessor, 
John  Hamilton,  or  President  Jonathan  Dickinson  from  shar- 
ing equally  with  him  the  honor  due  to  those  who  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  University.  After  all,  to  speak  of  the 
"founders"  of  a  university  is  to  employ  a  metaphor; 
and  it  is  not  by  a  figure  taken  from  among  forms  which 
have  no  life,  even  though  it  be  a  noble  and  spacious  build- 
ing, that  the  character  and  career  of  a  university  can  be 
best  exhibited.  To  obtain  an  adequate  symbol,  we  must 
rise  into  the  realm  of  life.  It  is  scarcely  figurative  to  say 
that  a  university  is  not  a  mechanism,  not  even  an  artistic 
product,  but  an  organism.  And  this  is  true  of  Princeton. 
A  living  seed,  whose  high  descent  we  can  trace  through 
Yale  and  Harvard,  through  the  Log  College  and  Edin- 
burgh, through  Cambridge,  Oxford  and  Paris,  back  to  Al- 
cuin  and  the  school  of  Egbert  at  York,  was  planted  here, 
wisely  and  with  prayer.  We  shall  better  state  the  facts  and 
shall  more  nearly  credit  each  benefactor  with  the  service  he 
rendered,  if  we  refuse  to  say  that  these  men  or  this  man 
founded  it,  and  shall  say  instead,  men  planted  it,  men 
watered  it,  men  cherished  and  nourished  it,  men  threw  about 
it  the  safeguards  of  the  common  and  the  statute  law.  All 
the  while  it  grew  because  of  the  living  and  energizing  idea 
which  informed  it.  For  the  same  reason  it  yielded  seed 
after  its  kind  and  became  a  mother  of  colleges.  And  year 
by  year  its  leaves  and  fruit,  as  they  still  are,  were  for  the 
healing  and  the  vigor  of  the  nation. 


348  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 


IV.     The  Opening  of  the  College.     The  Admin- 
istrations OF  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Aaron 
Burr  and  Jonathan  Edwards. 

The  first  charter  having  been  granted,  the  trustees 
made  preparations  for  the  opening  of  the  College.  Their 
announcement  was  made  on  the  13th  of  February,  1747. 
They  promised  that  it  should  be  open  to  the  public  in  May. 
Neither  its  presiding  officer  nor  the  place  where  instruction 
would  be  given  was  named.  But  on  the  27th  of  April  they 
were  able  to  say:  "The  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey  have  appointed  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  Presi- 
dent of  said  College,  which  will  be  opened  in  the  fourth 
week  of  May  next  at  Elizabethtown,  at  which  time  and 
place  all  persons  suitably  qualified  may  be  admitted  to  an 
academic  education."^  No  records  remain  from  which  can 
be  ascertained  the  number  of  students  during  this  first 
session.  In  1748,  however,  six  students  were  granted  the 
degree  of  Bachelor.  "  It  is  morally  certain,"  says  Dr.  Mac- 
lean, "that  some,  if  not  all  of  them,  had  been  in  training 
under  the  supervision  and  instruction  of  President  Dickin- 
son." One  of  Princeton's  first  graduating  class  was  Richard 
Stockton,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
Mr.  Dickinson's  work  as  President  was  very  brief.  It 
began  in  the  fourth  week  of  May,  1747.  He  died  before 
the  first  week  of  the  following  October  had  closed.  The 
man  to  whom,  as  much  as  to  any  single  person,  the  College 
was  indebted  for  its  existence,  for  the  high  ideas  which 
informed  it,  and  for  the  cordial  cooperation  of  the  Church 
and  the   State  in  its  establishment,  was  permitted  only  to 

'  "  At  the  time  specified,  the  first  term  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  was 
opened  at  Mr.  Dickinson's  house,  on  the  South  Side  of  the  old  Rahway  Road, 
directly  West  of  Race  Street." — "  Hatfield's  History  of  Elizabeth,"  p.  350. 


10 


I  \ 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  349 

launch  it  upon  its  career.  Nothing  is  known  of  the  curricu- 
lum. We  possess  no  account  of  it  to  which  we  can  appeal 
in  justification  of  the  degree  granted  to  these  first  gradu- 
ates. Their  title  rests  upon  the  fame  of  their  Presidents ; 
and  there  can  be  no  better  title  than  that  they  pursued  with 
credit  a  course  which  Jonathan  Dickinson  and  Aaron  Burr 
esteemed  adequate  for  the  first  degree  in  the  liberal  arts. 
President  Dickinson  was  their  principal  instructor  during 
the  early  part  of  their  course.  In  teaching  he  had  the 
assistance  of  the  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  the 
pastor  at  Newark  Mountains,  and  later  one  of  the  most 
useful  trustees  of  the  College. 

Mr.  Dickinson  died  October  the  seventh,  1747;  and  the 
following  notice  of  his  death  and  burial  appeared  on  the 
twelfth  of  the  same  month.  Dr.  Hatfield,  the  historian  of 
Elizabeth,  supposes  it  to  have  been  written  by  the  Rev. 
Ebenezer  Pemberton  of  New  York,  one  of  his  associate 
founders:  "On  Wednesday  morning  last,  about  four  o'clock, 
died  here,  of  a  pleuritic  illness,  the  eminently  learned  and 
pious  Minister  of  the  Gospel  and  President  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  in  the 
sixtieth  year  of  his  age,  who  had  been  Pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  town  for  nearly  forty  years, 
and  was  the  Glory  and  Joy  of  it.  In  him  conspicuously 
appeared  those  natural  and  acquired  moral  and  spiritual 
endowments  which  constitute  a  truly  excellent  and  valuable 
man,  a  good  Scholar,  an  eminent  Divine,  and  a  serious, 
devout  Christian.  He  was  greatly  adorned  with  the  gifts 
and  graces  of  the  Heavenly  Master,  in  the  Light  whereof 
he  appeared  as  a  Star  of  superior  Brightness  and  Influence 
in  the  Orb  of  the  Church,  which  has  sustained  a  great  and 
unspeakable  Loss  in  his  Death.  He  was  of  uncommon  and 
very  extensive  usefulness.  He  boldly  appeared  in  the  De- 
fence of  the  great  and  important  Truths  of  our  most  holy 


352  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

may  well  be  proud  of  him  as  an  alumnus,  and  Princeton 
may  well  cherish  the  memory  of  the  first  as  the  memory 
of  one  of  the  greatest  of  her  Presidents. 

Immediately  upon  the  death  of  Dickinson,  the  care  of  the 
College  was  entrusted  to  the  Rev.  Aaron  Burr.  The  stu- 
dents were  taken  from  Elizabethtown  to  Newark.  It  was 
fortunate  that  Burr  was  so  near  at  hand.  It  is  probable  that 
the  Academy  in  Newark  was  still  open ;  but  whether  it 
was  or  not,  his  conduct  of  that  institution  made  it  compara- 
tively easy  for  him  to  take  charge  of  the  College.  Its  work 
went  on  without  interruption  ;  but  no  student  was  graduated 
until  the  second  charter  had  been  granted.  To  Burr  be- 
longs the  honor  of  the  organization  of  the  curriculum  of  the 
College,  its  ceremonies  and  its  discipline.  How  deeply  im- 
pressed he  was  by  the  dignity  of  a  college  appears  clearly 
in  the  account  of  the  first  commencement,^  held  on  the  9th 
of  November,  1748,  and  of  the  inaugural  address  he  deliv- 
ered. The  State  was  represented  by  the  Governor  and 
Commander-in-chief  of  the  Province.  The  trustees  under 
the  new  charter  subscribed  the  oaths  and  declarations  which 
the  law  required,  and  elected  Burr  as  President.  This  ac- 
tion was  followed  by  the  exercises  of  the  commencement. 
The  procession  formed  at  the  lodgings  of  the  Governor  and 
moved  to  the  place  appointed  for  the  public  acts.    The  char- 

'  The  reporter  of  this  commencement  was  one  of  the  trustees,  Wilham  Smith, 
who  was  a  corporator  under  both  charters.  He  was  not  only  a  graduate 
of  Yale  College,  but  his  interest  in  the  acts  of  the  new  institution,  whose  first 
commencement  he  has  narrated,  was  due  to  the  fact  that  he  held  the  position 
of  tutor  in  his  alma  mater  for  five  years.  He  was  one  of  the  most  prominent 
lawyers  in  the  Province  of  New  York,  a  man  of  great  influence  in  colonial 
politics,  earnestly  desirous  of  a  union  among  the  Colonies,  and  a  member  of 
the  Congress  held  at  Albany  to  secure  a  union  between  them.  Upon  his 
death  the  "  New  York  Gazette  "  described  him  as  a  gentleman  of  great  eru- 
dition, the  most  eloquent  speaker  in  the  Province,  and  a  zealous  and  inflexi- 
ble friend  to  the  cause  of  religion  and  liberty. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  353 

ter  was  read  before  the  audience,  who  stood  to  hear  it.  In 
the  afternoon  the  President  of  the  College  delivered  a  Latin 
oration  on  the  value  of  liberal  learning  to  the  individual,  to 
the  church,  and  to  the  state.  He  spoke  at  length  of  the 
benefits  conferred  by  the  universities  on  Great  Britain,  and 
congratulated  his  countrymen  that  as  soon  as  the  Eng- 
lish planters  of  America  had  formed  a  civil  state  they 
wisely  laid  religion  and  learning  at  the  foundation  of  their 
commonwealth,  and  always  regarded  them  as  the  foremost 
pillars  of  their  government.  He  referred  with  gratitude 
to  the  growing  reputation  of  Harvard  College  in  New  Cam- 
bridge, and  Yale  College  in  New  Haven,  which  had  sent  forth 
many  hundreds  of  learned  men  of  various  stations  and  char- 
acters in  life  who  had  proved  an  honor  and  ornament  to  their 
country.  Most  of  the  literati  present,  said  Mr.  Burr,  looked 
to  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  colleges  as  their  alma  mater. 
The  sun  of  learning  had  now  in  its  western  movement  be- 
gun to  dawn  upon  the  Province  of  New  Jersey.  They  were 
fortunate  in  having  as  their  generous  patron  their  most  ex- 
cellent Governor,  who,  from  his  own  acquaintance  with 
academic  studies,  well  knowing  the  importance  of  a  learned 
education,  and  being  justly  sensible  that  in  nothing  could  he 
more  subserve  the  honor  and  interest  of  His  Majesty's 
government,  and  the  real  good  and  happiness  of  his  sub- 
jects in  New  Jersey,  than  by  granting  them  the  best  means 
to  render  themselves  a  religious,  wise  and  knowing  peo- 
ple, had,  upon  his  happy  accession  to  his  government,  made 
the  erection  of  a  college  in  this  Province  for  the  instruction 
of  youth  in  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences  the  immediate  ob- 
ject of  his  attention  and  care.  He  spoke  with  gratitude  of 
His  Excellency's  friendship,  shown  in  the  ample  privileges 
granted  in  His  Majesty's  royal  charter  of  the  College ; 
privileges,  said  Mr.  Burr,  the  most  ample  possible  con- 
sistent with  the  natural  and  religious  rights    of  mankind. 


354  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

He  spoke  in  a  tone  not  only  of  congratulation,  but  of  tri- 
umph, of  the  provision  of  the  charter  which  grants  free  and 
equal  liberty  and  advantages  of  education  in  the  College, 
any  different  sentiments  in  religion  notwithstanding,  asserting 
that  in  this  provision  they  saw  the  axe  laid  to  the  root  of  that 
anti-Christian  bigotry  which  had  in  every  age  been  the  parent 
of  persecution  and  the  plague  of  mankind,  and  that  by  the 
tenor  of  the  charter  such  bigotry  could  assume  no  place  in 
the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

The  disputations  of  the  students  followed.  These  were 
carried  on  in  Latin.  Six  questions  in  philosophy  and  the- 
ology were  debated.  The  reporter  of  the  commencement 
names  only  one:  ''An  libertas  agendi  seainduin  dictamina 
conscienticB,  in  rebus  mere  religiosis,  ab  ulla  potcstate  Jiu- 
mana  coerceri  dcbeatf"  Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  dispu- 
tations the  President  presented  the  candidates  to  the  trus- 
tees, asking  whether  it  was  their  pleasure  that  they  should 
be  admitted  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts ;  and  the 
degrees  were  bestowed.  The  degree  of  Master,  honoris 
causa,  was  accepted  by  the  Governor.  An  oration  of  wel- 
come was  then  pronounced  in  Latin,  by  Mr.  Daniel  Thane, 
one  of  the  new  bachelors.  Like  the  discourse  of  the  Presi- 
dent, it  was  an  eulogy  of  the  liberal  arts,  in  view  of  the 
benefits  they  yielded  to  mankind  in  private  and  social  life, 
and  was  concluded  by  an  expression  of  the  gratitude  of  the 
bachelors  to  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  the  trustees  and 
the  President  of  the  College.  Upon  the  conclusion  of  the 
exercises  the  trustees  met,  adopted  the  college  seal,  and 
enacted  laws  for  the  regulation  of  the  students.  "  Thus," 
concludes  the  reporter,  "the  first  appearance  of  a  college 
in  New  Jersey  having  given  universal  satisfaction,  even 
the-  unlearned  being  pleased  with  the  external  solemnity 
and  decorum  which  they  saw,  it  is  hoped  that  this  infant 
College  will  meet  with  due  encouragement  from  all  public- 


r-rt- )   •-  -mJ•,f^^^-^v•r^•ll^•l^l^■v^^I^lrrr^')fV'l^tfyn^ 


!! 


M 


li 


r.l 
^1 


Aaron  Burr. 

1748- 1757. 


xr^" 


.nu8  noicA 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  355 

spirited  generous  minds ;  and  that  the  lovers  of  mankind 
will  wish  its  prosperity  and  contribute  to  its  support." 
Princeton  University  may  well  congratulate  itself  on  the 
first  public  appearance  of  the  College  in  its  annual  cere- 
mony, on  the  stately  and  decorous  observances,  on  the 
large-mindedness  of  the  inaugural  discourse,  the  assured 
tone  of  the  orator  when  speaking  of  the  value  of  the  liberal 
arts  to  the  communities  of  Europe  and  America,  on  the 
spirit  of  hopefulness  as  to  the  future  of  the  College,  on 
the  emphasis  of  the  value  of  the  institution  not  only  to 
the  church,  to  the  communities  and  to  the  state,  and  on  the 
sense  of  relationship  not  only  with  Harvard  and  Yale,  but 
also  with  the  universities  of  the  mother  country.  The  acts 
and  addresses  gave  to  the  first  commencement  of  the  Col- 
lege a  dignity  which  we  must  regard  as  exceptional  among 
first  commencements.  It  was  in  all  its  parts  regarded  as  a 
happy  omen,  auguring  a  large  and  great  career. 

The  College  laws  enacted  by  the  trustees  on  the  same 
day  show  the  standard  of  admission  to  have  been,  for  the 
times,  a  high  one.  No  one  could  be  admitted  to  the  Col- 
lege who  was  not  able  to  translate  Virgil  and  Cicero's  Ora- 
tions into  English,  and  English  into  true  and  grammatical 
Latin,  and  the  Gospels  into  Latin  or  English,  and  give  the 
grammatical  construction  of  the  words.  The  curriculum  of 
the  College  during  this  period  was  in  harmony  with  its 
standard  of  admission.  The  Latin  and  Greek  languages 
and  mathematics  were  studied  throughout  the  entire  course. 
Physical  science  was  represented  by  natural  philosophy  and 
astronomy.  Logic  was  studied  with  text-book,  and  its  prac- 
tice was  secured  by  means  of  discussion.  Rhetoric  was 
taught  in  the  same  way,  and  essays  and  declamations  were 
required.  Mental  and  moral  philosophy  were  from  the 
beginning  prominent  in  the  course. 

The  loss  of  the  minutes  of  the  Faculty  makes  it  impossible 


358  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

attainments  and  endowments,  it  is  questionable  whether  it 
produced  any  other  so  immediately  and  widely  useful. 

The  sophomore  class  studied  rhetoric,  mathematics,  natu- 
ral philosophy  and  astronomy,  and  continued  their  classi- 
cal reading.  Astronomy  was  studied  with  text-book  and 
the  orrery  constructed  by  David  Rittenhouse.  The  text- 
book in  natural  philosophy  was  a  work  in  two  volumes. 
Its  author  was  Benjamin  Martin,  a  learned  optician,  who 
appears  to  have  been  as  prolific  a  writer  as  Isaac  Watts 
himself,  and  whose  works,  in  their  day,  were  highly  es- 
teemed. No  less  than  thirty-one  of  his  works  were  pub- 
lished. His  Natural  Philosophy  is  entitled  "  Philosophia 
Britannica,  a  New  and  Comprehensive  System  of  the  New- 
tonian Philosophy,  Astronomy  and  Geography,  with  Notes." 
He  conducted  a  school,  made  optical  instruments,  invented 
a  reflecting  microscope,  and  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  as  a 
maker  of  spectacles.  He  wrote  on  natural  philosophy,  on 
electricity,  on  the  construction  of  globes,  and  on  the  ele- 
ments of  optics. 

The  study  of  the  classics  was  continued  during  the  four 
years.  The  seniors  had  a  special  course  in  ethics,  using  as 
a  text-book  Henry  Grove's  "  System  of  Moral  Philosophy," 
in  two  volumes.  As  early  as  the  administration  of  President 
Burr  more  time  than  was  customarv  in  collecres  was  de- 
voted  to  the  study  of  mathematics  and  natural  science. 
Optional  studies  were  pursued  in  these  branches.  In  1752, 
Shippen  writes  as  follows:  "The  President  has  been  in- 
structing two  or  three  of  us  in  the  calculation  of  eclipses." 
He  also  speaks  of  his  studying,  outside  of  the  necessary 
exercises  of  the  College,  the  theory  of  navigation. 

While  President  Burr  was  organizing  the  curriculum, 
the  trustees  were  conferring  and  corresponding  about  the 
permanent  location  of  the  College.  Newark  was  too  near 
to  New  York  City  to  satisfy  the  trustees  residing  in  Penn- 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  359 

sylvania.  It  was  important,  if  the  College  was  to  retain  the 
support  .of  the  communities  represented  in  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  that  a  place  should  be  selected  which  would  be 
reasonably  convenient  to  both  Pennsylvania  and  New  York. 
Proposals  were  made  to  two  of  the  central  towns  of  New 
Jersey.  The  trustees  were  fully  aware  of  the  pecuniary 
and  social  value  of  the  College  to  any  town  in  which  it 
should  be  planted,  and  they  were  determined  not  to  plant 
it  among  any  people  who  were  unwilling  to  compensate  the 
institution  for  its  presence.  In  September,  1750,  they  voted 
"  that  a  proposal  be  made  to  the  towns  of  Brunswick  and 
Princeton  to  try  what  sum  of  money  they  could  raise  for 
the  Building  of  the  College,  by  the  next  meeting,  that  the 
trustees  may  be  better  able  to  judge  in  which  of  these  places 
to  fix  the  place  of  the  College."  In  the  following  May  the 
trustees  selected  New  Brunswick,  "  provided  the  citizens  of 
the  place  secure  to  the  College  a  thousand  pounds  in  procla- 
mation money,  ten  acres  for  a  college  campus,  and  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  woodland  not  farther  than  three  miles  from 
the  town."  Meanwhile  the  citizens  of  Princeton  were  active 
and  anxious.  They  were  ready  with  a  definite  proposition 
as  to  land  for  the  building,  and  with  promises  of  a  sub- 
scription for  its  erection.  The  treasurer  and  another  mem- 
ber of  the  board  were  directed  to  view  the  promised  land  at 
Princeton,  and  also  that  to  be  given  by  the  inhabitants  of 
New  Brunswick,  and  to  report  to  the  trustees  in  the  follow- 
ing September.  By  September  the  views  of  the  trustees 
concerning  the  respective  advantages  of  the  two  towns  had 
somewhat  changed ;  and  from  this  time  until  September, 
1752,  when  it  was  voted  that  the  College  be  fixed  at  Prince- 
ton, the  latter  place  steadily  increased  in  favor. 

Princeton  was  almost  on  the  line  between  the  eastern  and 
western  divisions  of  New  Jersey.  Indeed  it  lies  between 
the  lines  made  by  the  two  surveyors,  Keith  and  Lawrence. 


362  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

tion,  opposite  to  which,  and  of  the  same  height,  is  erected  a 
stage  for  the  use  of  the  students  in  their  pubhc  exhibitions. 
It  is  also  ornamented  on  one  side  with  a  portrait  of  his  late 
Majesty  at  full  length,  and  on  the  other  with  a  like  picture 
(and  above  it  the  family  arms  neatly  carved  and  gilt)  of  his 
Excellency  Governor  Belcher.  The  library,  which  is  on  the 
second  floor,  is  a  spacious  room,  furnished,  at  present,  with 
twelve  hundred  volumes,  all  of  which  have  been  gifts  of  the 
patrons  and  friends  of  the  institution  both  in  Europe  and 
America.  There  is  on  the  lower  story  a  commodious  din- 
ing hall,  together  with  a  large  kitchen,  steward's  apartments, 
etc.  The  whole  structure,  which  is  of  durable  stone,  hav- 
ing a  neat  cupola  on  its  top,  makes  a  handsome  appearance 
and  is  esteemed  to  be  the  most  convenient  plan  for  the  pur- 
poses of  a  college  of  any  in  North  America." 

Governor  Belcher  was  not  content  simply  to  enjoy  the 
position  of  the  College's  official  patron.  He  gave  to  its  in- 
terests his  time.  He  commended  it  to  his  friends,  encour- 
aged the  trustees  in  every  way,  and  was  one  of  its  largest 
benefactors.  It  was  altogether  appropriate  that  the  trustees 
should,  as  they  did,  propose  to  name  the  new  building  after 
him.  This  honor  the  Governor  declined,  and  requested  the 
trustees  to  call  the  building  Nassau  Hall,  as  "the  name 
which  expresses  the  honor  we  render,  in  this  remote  part 
of  the  globe,  to  the  immortal  memory  of  the  glorious  King 
William  the  Third,  who  was  a  branch  of  the  illustrious 
House  of  Nassau."  The  trustees  recorded  his  letter,  and 
ordered  that  "the  said  edifice  be  in  all  time  to  come,  called 
and  known  by  the  name  of  Nassau  Hall."  The  College  was 
removed  to  Princeton  in  the  autumn  of  1756.  "In  that 
year,"  says  Mr.  Randolph  in  his  memoranda,  "Aaron  Burr, 
President,  preached  the  first  sermon,  and  began  the  first 
school  in  Princeton  College."  The  College  opened  with 
seventy  students. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  363 

The  erection  of  this  building  required  a  large  addition  to 
the  funds  of  the  College.  The  friends  of  the  institution  in 
the  Colonies,  unable  to  meet  the  expense,  sent  to  the  mother 
country  a  commission  to  ask  contributions.  The  Governor 
wrote,  in  behalf  of  the  commission,  to  his  British  friends. 
Two  clergymen  were  found,  who  were  willing  to  act  as  the 
solicitors.  These  were  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  of  Philadelphia.  It  was 
necessary  to  their  success  that  they  secure  the  sanction  and 
commendation  of  the  Synod  of  New  York.  The  commen- 
dation of  the  Synod  was  addressed  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  It  stated  the  importance  of 
the  College  to  the  congregations  under  the  care  of  the 
Synod.  It  set  forth  the  services  which  the  College  had 
already  rendered  in  supplying  educated  and  accomplished 
ministers  for  these  churches.  It  certified  that  Mr.  Tennent 
and  Mr.  Davies  were  appointed  by  both  the  trustees  and  the 
Synod,  and  recommended  them  and  their  mission  to  the 
acceptance  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  Davies  and  Tennent 
were  well  received  by  the  Independent  and  the  Presbyterian 
ministers  of  England.  The  Scottish  General  Assembly 
heard  their  petition  favorably  and  even  with  enthusiasm, 
and  appointed  a  committee  to  draw  up  an  act  of  recom- 
mendation for  a  collection  in  the  churches.  This  was  the 
more  gratifying  because  the  Synod  of  Philadelphia  or  sev- 
eral of  its  members  had  endeavored,  by  correspondence,  to 
put  stumbling-blocks  in  the  way  of  their  success,  no  doubt 
because  of  Synod's  desire  to  promote  the  interests  of  its 
own  College.  Tennent  visited  his  native  Ireland,  and  suc- 
cessfully brought  the  subject  to  the  attention  of  the  Synod 
of  Ulster.  "  The  mission  of  these  gentlemen,"  says  Dr. 
Maclean,  "was  successful  beyond  all  expectation,  and  they 
obtained  an  amount  of  funds  which  enabled  the  trustees  to 
proceed  without  further  delay  in  the  erection  of  their  pro- 


364  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

posed  college  hall,  and  also  of  a  house  for  the  residence  of 
the  president  and  family."^  Tennent  and  Davies  received 
in  London  about  twelve  hundred  pounds  sterling;  and  from 
the  west  of  England  and  from  Ireland  Tennent  obtained 
five  hundred  pounds.  Davies  collected  in  the  provinces 
about  four  hundred  pounds.  In  addition  to  this,  about 
three  hundred  pounds  were  contributed  for  funds  for  can- 
didates for  the  ministry,  and  collections  for  the  College 
were  made  in  the  churches  in  Scotland  and  Ireland  by  order 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  and  of 
the  Synod  of  Ulster. 

The  College  had  now  been  in  existence  for  eleven  years. 
It  had  a  permanent  home  in  a  favorable  location,  and  was 
the  possessor  of  the  finest  college  hall  in  the  country.  Effec- 
tive measures  had  been  taken  to  heal  the  schism  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church.  The  reunion  of  the  two  Synods,  which 
brought  to  the  aid  of  the  College  and  to  its  patronage  a  far 
larger  number  of  friends  than  up  to  this  time  it  had  pos- 
sessed, took  place  in  1758.  But  before  the  reunion  took 
place  two  of  its  most  important  friends  passed  away.  Gov- 
ernor Jonathan  Belcher ^  died  on  Wednesday,  August  31. 
In  less  than  a  month  his  death  was  followed  by  the  death 
of  President  Aaron  Burr. 

'"History  of  the  College,"  Vol.  I,  p.  152. 

-The  administration  of  Governor  Belcher  in  New  Jersey  was  wise  and  able, 
and  of  great  advantage  to  the  province  as  well  as  to  the  College.  Samuel 
Smith  the  historian,  and  a  contemporary,  contrasts  his  career  as  governor 
of  Massachusetts  with  his  career  as  governor  of  New  Jersey.  In  Massachu- 
setts he  "  carried  a  high  hand  in  the  administration,  disgusted  men  of  influ- 
ence, and,  at  one  time,  putting  a  negative  on  several  counsellors,  occasioned 
so  many  voices  to  unite  in  their  applications  against  him  that  he  was  removed 
from  his  government."  When  he  was  appointed  governor  of  New  Jersey 
"  he  was  advanced  in  age  yet  lively,  dihgent  in  his  station  and  circumspect 
in  his  conduct,  religious,  generous,  and  affable.  He  affected  splendor  at  least 
equal  to  his  rank  and  fortune,  but  was  a  man  of  worth  and  honor.  And 
though  in  his  last  years  under  great  debility  of  body  from  a  stroke  of  palsy, 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  365 

Governor  Belcher's  death  was  not  unexpected.  He  was 
almost  seventy-six  years  old,  and  for  sev^eral  years  he  had 
been  a  paralytic.  But  President  Burr  was  only  forty-one ; 
and  it  had  been  hoped  that  the  College,  whose  curriculum 
and  discipline  he  had  so  wisely  organized,  would  have  the 
benefit  of  his  wisdom  for  many  years  to  come.  Born  in 
17 16,  he  was  graduated  at  Yale  in  1735,  and  was  ordained 
at  Newark  in  1738.  For  nine  years  he  was  the  pastor  of 
the  Presbyterian  church  in  that  place,  and  conducted  also  a 
large  Latin  school.  In  1747,  on  the  death  of  Dickinson, 
he  took  charge  of  the  College,  and  was  reelected  President 
under  the  new  charter.  The  Rev.  Caleb  Smith  delivered, 
by  appointment  of  the  Trustees,  a  discourse  commemora- 
tive of  President  Burr,  in  which  he  is  presented  as  a  peace- 
loving,  studious  and  industrious  man,  of  quick  and  large 
intelligence,  of  great  wisdom  in  the  administration  of  the 
College,  devout  and  earnest  as  a  Christian,  and  as  a  preacher 
"he  shone,"  says  Mr.  Smith,  "like  a  star  of  the  first  magni- 
tude." The  following  extract  from  the  memorial  discourse 
goes  far  in  explaining  the  wide  popularity  he  enjoyed  and  his 
conspicuous  success  as  President.  "  He  was  a  great  friend 
to  liberty  both  civil  and  religious,  and  generously  espoused 
this  noble  cause  on  every  suitable  occasion.  As  he  ab- 
horred tyranny  in  the  State,  so  he  detested  persecution  in 
the  Church,  and  all  those  anti-Christian  methods  which 
have  been  used  by  most  prevailing  parties,  somehow  or 
other,  to  enslave  the  consciences  of  their  dissenting  breth- 
ren. He  was  very  far  from  indulging  a  party  spirit,  and 
hated  bigotry  in  all  its  odious  shapes.     His  arms  were  open 

he  bore  up  with  firmness  and  resignation,  and  went  through  the  business  of 
the  government  in  the  most  difficult  part  of  the  late  war  with  unremitting  zeal 
in  the  duties  of  his  office."  No  act  of  his  administration,  however,  gave  him 
greater  satisfaction  than  his  grant  of  the  charter  of  1748  to  the  College.  From 
the  day  of  its  grant  to  his  death,  he  was  among  its  most  active  and  generous 
benefactors. 


366  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

to  a  good  man  of  any  denomination,  however  he  might  in 
principle  differ  or  in  practice  disagree  as  to  what  he  himself, 
in  the  lesser  matters  of  religion,  judged  to  be  preferable. 
He  was  no  man  for  contention,  and  at  a  wide  remove  from 
a  wrangling  disputant;  these  bitter  ingredients  came  not 
into  the  composition  of  his  amiable  character.  His  modera- 
tion was  well  known  to  all  men  that  knew  anything  of  him. 
A  sweetness  of  temper,  obliging  courtesy  and  mildness 
of  behavior,  added  to  an  engaging  candor  of  sentiment, 
spread  a  glory  over  his  reputation,  endeared  his  person  to 
all  his  acquaintances,  recommended  his  ministry  and  whole 
profession  to  mankind  in  general,  and  greatly  contributed 
to  his  extensive  usefulness." 

Four  days  after  the  death  of  Burr,  the  commencement  of 
1757  took  place.  It  was  the  first  commencement  at  Prince- 
ton. The  graduating  class  numbered  twenty-two.  With- 
out any  delay  a  successor  was  chosen.  Seventeen  out 
of  the  twenty  trustees  present  at  the  meeting  voted  for 
the  father-in-law  of  Burr,  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards,  of 
Stockbridge,  Massachusetts.  It  required  no  little  pressure 
to  induce  Mr.  Edwards  to  leave  Stockbridge  and  his  work 
among  the  Indians.  It  was  the  more  difficult  because  his 
Hfe  there  gave  him  the  time  and  seclusion  needed  for  study 
and  composition.  To  quote  the  language  of  the  trustees, 
"he  came  only  after  repeated  requests."  An  ecclesiastical 
council,  in  December,  1757,  released  him  from  his  labors  at 
Stockbridge.  He  arrived  at  Princeton  and  was  qualified  as 
President  on  the  sixteenth  of  February,  1 758.  One  week  later 
he  was  inoculated  for  the  smallpox,  and  died  the  twenty-sec- 
ond of  March.  He  preached  before  the  College,  but  did  little 
teaching.  We  are  told  that  "he  did  nothing  as  President, 
unless  it  was  to  give  out  some  questions  in  Divinity,  to  the 
senior  class,  to  be  answered  before  him  ;  each  one  having 
opportunity  to  study  and  write  what  he  thought  proper  upon 


■ifWtiWMBiiin'i'T^n'iitfijmrammrt-u^ii™ 


his 
kIv 


t^ 


Jonathan  Edwards. 
1758. 


.■'!l| 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  367 

them.  When  they  came  together  to  answer  them,  they 
found  so  much  entertainment  and  profit  by  it,  especially  by 
the  lisfht  and  instruction  Mr.  Edwards  communicated  in 
what  he  said  upon  the  questions  when  they  had  delivered 
what  they  had  to  say,  they  spoke  of  it  with  the  greatest 
satisfaction  and  wonder."  ^  We  can  easily  understand  how 
severe  a  blow  the  death  of  this  great  man,  almost  immedi- 
ately after  his  accession  to  the  Presidency,  must  have  been 
to  the  College.  But  the  fact  that  he  had  accepted  the  Presi- 
dency gave  celebrity  to  the  College;  and  though  he  was  not 
permitted  to  labor  for  it,  the  College  has  always  derived 
great  advantage  from  his  illustrious  name.  "  Probably  no 
man,"  says  Dr.  Maclean,  "  ever  connected  with  this  institu- 
tion has  contributed  so  much  to  its  reputation  both  at  home 
and  abroad." 

Less  than  a  month  after  the  death  of  President  Edwards 
the  Trustees  met  for  the  election  of  his  successor.  They 
turned  to  a  graduate  of  the  elder  college  which  had  given 
them  three  Presidents,  and  invited  the  Rev.  James  Lock- 
wood  of  Weathersfield,  Connecticut,  to  take  the  vacant 
place.'  Dr.  Ashbel  Green  speaks  of  him  as  "a  man  of  great 
worth  and  high  reputation."  He  declined  the  election,  as, 
later,  he  declined  the  election  to  the  Presidency  of  Yale 
College  after  the  resignation  of  Clapp,  and  the  Board  chose 
as  Jonathan  Edwards'  successor  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies. 


V.  The  Administrations  of  Samuel  Davies  and 

Samuel  Finley. 

The  election  of  Samuel  Davies  to  the  presidency  of  the 
College  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  its  administration. 
Up  to  this  time  the  prevailing  influence  had  been  that  of  the 

'  Edwards,  "  Works,"  Biographical  Introduction. 


370  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

nearest,  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  apart."  ^  In  addition  to  his 
work  as  pastor  and  preacher,  he  was  the  most  prominent 
citizen  of  his  Colony  in  maintaining  and  defending  the 
rights  secured  to  the  non-conformists  by  the  Act  of  Tolera- 
tion. His  addresses  and  correspondence  show  that  the 
cause  of  religious  liberty  in  Virginia  could  not  have  had  a 
wiser,  abler  or  more  faithful  advocate.  What  large-mind- 
edness,  catholicity  of  spirit  and  diplomatic  courtesy  could 
effect  was  secured  by  his  activity  to  the  dissenting  Presby- 
terian colonists  and  to  their  clergy.  The  contest  for  toler- 
ation was  long  and  doubtful.  Indeed,  toleration  was  not 
finally  secured  until  religious  liberty  was  won  by  the  sepa- 
ration of  Virginia  from  the  mother  country.  But  to  Davies, 
as  much  as  to  any  one  man,  the  Presbyterians  of  Virginia 
owed  the  confirmation  of  their  right  as  British  subjects  to 
worship  God  after  the  customs  of  their  fathers.  Amid  all 
this  work,  he  found  time  to  take  a  large  and  active  part  in 
the  general  work  of  the  growing  church  to  which  his  con- 
gregation belonged.  He  led  the  Presbytery  of  which  he 
was  a  member  in  its  organization  of  missionary  labors,  and 
no  counsel  was  more  highly  valued  in  the  Synod  than  his. 

His  eloquence  and  ability  and  his  popularity  in  Virginia 
and  throughout  the  Church  by  themselves  might  well  have 
led  the  Trustees  to  invite  him  to  the  presidency  of  the  Col- 
lege. But  though  never  a  trustee  himself  until  as  President 
he  became  a  member  of  the  corporation,  he  was  early  asso- 
ciated with  it.  At  the  commencement  of  1753,  as  a  candi- 
date for  Master,  he  defended  the  thesis  Personates  distiiic- 
tiones  in  Trinitate  sunt  ceternce,  and  was  granted  the  degree. 
It  was  as  a  laureatiis  of  the  College,  therefore,  as  well  as  one 
of  a  commission  of  the  Synod,  that  in  November  of  the  same 
year  he  sailed  for  Great  Britain  with  Gilbert  Tennent  to 
ask  contributions  for  the  institution.  The  success  of  the 
1  Maclean's  "  Hist,"  Vol.  I,  p.  223. 


gfltTit^"'^'^'   ^^^*"**»**»* 


*-r'-^^*M+T«i-H  n-nttiati-u 


il 


11 


ai 


oi- 


ii 


Samuel  Davies. 


1759-  I7< 


111 


.*r^ 


J^. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  371 

commission  was  largely  due  to  the  profound  impression 
made  by  the  preaching  and  the  charming  personaHty  of 
Davies.  Everywhere  he  went  he  justified  the  reputation  for 
eloquence  which  preceded  him.  He  was  heard  seventy  times 
in  Great  Britain,  and,  it  is  said,  never  failed  to  produce  a  pro- 
found spiritual  impression.  Nor  did  his  sermons,  like  those 
of  Whitefield,  lose  their  power  to  interest  when  reproduced 
in  type.  Undoubtedly,  the  criticism  that  their  language  is 
often  loose  and  their  rhetoric  often  turgid  is  just.  But  they 
are  great  discourses,  organized  by  an  orator  who  knew  the 
power  of  eloquence  and  how  to  wield  it,  suffused  with  feel- 
ing, made  substantial  by  weighty  truths  and  vitalized  by  the 
spirit  of  the  Great  Awakening.  The  popularity  of  Davies 
as  a  preacher  survived  for  many  years  the  man  himself. 
Between  his  death  in  1761  and  the  close  of  the  century,  no 
less  than  nine  editions  of  his  sermons  were  published  in 
England.  These  were  widely  circulated  in  that  country 
and  in  America.  It  is  a  remarkable  tribute  to  a  literary 
product  the  whole  of  which  was  thrown  off  rapidly,  and 
the  most  of  which  was  published  posthumously,  that  was 
paid  by  a  successor  in  the  presidency,  Ashbel  Green,  more 
than  sixty  years  after  Davies'  death:  "  Probably  there  are 
no  sermons  in  the  English  language  which  have  been  more 
read,  or  for  which  there  has  been  so  steady  and  unceasing 
a  demand  for  more  than  half  a  century."  Twenty  years 
after  this  tribute  was  paid  to  them,  a  new  edition  was  pub- 
Hshed  in  America  and  introduced  to  a  new  generation  of 
readers  by  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes. 

Davies  began  his  administration  at  the  college  com- 
mencement of  1759.  His  popularity  in  the  Colonies  in- 
creased the  number  of  the  students  in  attendance  to  nearly, 
if  not  quite,  one  hundred.  The  curriculum,  so  admirably 
organized  during  the  presidency  of  Aaron  Burr,  as  far  as 
appears,  was  not  altered  or  extended.     Admission   to  the 


374  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

meeting  of  the  trustees  was  called,  to  be  held  May  28,  1761; 
but  a  quorum  not  being  in  attendance,  a  second  meeting  was 
held  three  days  later.  At  this  meeting  Mr.  Finley  was 
unanimously  chosen.  For  ten  years  he  had  been  an  active 
member  of  the  Board,  and  was  perfectly  conversant  with  the 
state  of  the  College.  He  had  acted  as  President  pro  tem- 
pore. Mr.  Finley  was  not  a  man  to  postpone  an  answer  to 
an  election  for  the  sake  of  appearances.  He  was  exception- 
ally frank  and  direct  in  speech  and  action.  We  need  not 
be  surprised,  therefore,  that  the  minute  which  records  his 
election  contains  the  statement  that  "  the  said  Mr.  Finley, 
being  informed  of  the  above  election,  was  pleased  modestly 
to  accept  the  same."  How  highly  he  was  regarded  by  the 
friends  of  the  College  is  evident  from  a  letter  written  by 
the  Rev.  David  Bostwick,  who  soon  after  became  a  trustee 
of  the  College,  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bellamy,  in  March,  1761. 
Referring-  to  the  death  of  Davies  and  the  need  of  a  sue- 
cessor,  he  says:  "Our  eyes  are  on  Mr.  Finley,  a  very  ac- 
curate scholar,  and  a  very  great  and  good  man.  Blessed 
be  the  Lord,  that  such  an  one  is  to  be  found." 

Samuel  Finley  was  born  in  Ireland,  in  the  county  of 
Armagh,  of  a  Scottish  family,  and  was  one  of  seven  sons. 
Early  in  life  he  discovered  both  a  taste  for  learning  and 
fine  powers  of  acquisition.  The  religious  education  which 
he  obtained  in  the  family  determined  his  studies  in  the 
direction  of  theology,  and  he  looked  forward  to  the  life  of  a 
minister,  even  before  his  family  migrated  to  America  when 
he  was  in  his  nineteenth  year.  He  reached  Philadelphia  in 
September,  1734,  and  as  soon  as  possible  he  continued  his 
preparation  for  the  ministry.  The  six  years,  which  inter- 
vened between  his  arrival  in  1734  and  his  license  to  preach 
on  August  5,  1740,  appear  to  have  been  passed  in  earnest 
study  of  the  classics  and  divinity.  At  all  events,  the  at- 
tainments for  which  he  was  distinguished,  which  gave  to 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  375 

the  Academy  instituted  by  him  its  high  and  wide  repu- 
tation, and  which  led  to  his  invitation  finally  to  become 
President  of  Nassau  Hall,  make  it  highly  probable,  that 
this  period  of  his  life  was  passed  in  earnest  and  continuous 
study,  under  the  direction  of  one  no  less  competent  than 
William  Tennent,  and  full  of  Tennent's  evangelical  spirit. 
He  was  licensed  when  the  evangelical  revival  was  exerting  its 
widest  influence.  He  threw  himself  into  the  work  of  that 
great  movement  with  enthusiasm,  travelling  widely  and 
preaching  with  earnestness,  particularly  throughout  the 
western  part  of  New  Jersey.  For  six  months  also  he  sup- 
plied the  pulpit  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Philadelphia,  and  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Brunswick  in  October,  1742.  Of  the  several  calls  received 
by  him  he  was  disposed  to  accept  one  from  Milford,  Con- 
necticut. His  Presbytery  sent  him  there,  permitting  him  to 
preach  at  other  points,  if  the  way  should  be  open.  A  sec- 
ond religious  society  had  been  established  at  New  Haven, 
but  was  not  yet  recognized  by  either  the  civil  or  the  re- 
ligious authorities.  Mr.  James  Pierpont,  a  son  of  the 
Rev.  James  Pierpont,  was  interested  in  this  new  church, 
and  invited  Finley  to  preach  before  it.  This  was  illegal ; 
and  on  September  5,  as  he  was  about  to  occupy  the  pul- 
pit, he  was  arrested  and  imprisoned.  He  was  indicted  by 
the  Grand  Jury,  convicted  of  vagrancy,  and  sentenced  to 
be  exiled  from  the  colony.  The  sentence  was  executed, 
and  he  was  unable  to  induce  the  authorities  to  permit  his  re- 
turn. In  June  of  the  same  year  he  accepted  an  invitation 
to  become  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Not- 
tingham, Maryland  ;  where  he  remained  for  seventeen  years. 
Mr.  Ebenezer  Hazard,  sometime  Postmaster-General  of  the 
United  States,  says  of  Dr.  Finley:  "  He  was  remarkable  for 
sweetness  of  temper  and  politeness  of  behaviour.  He  was 
given  to  hospitality ;  charitable  without  ostentation;  exem- 


376  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

plary  in  discharge  of  his  relative  duties ;  and  in  all  things 
showing  himself  a  pattern  of  good  works.  He  was  a  Cal- 
vinist  in  sentiment.  His  sermons  were  not  hasty  productions, 
but  filled  with  good  sense  and  well-digested  sentiment,  ex- 
pressed in  language  pleasing  to  men  of  science,  yet  per- 
fectly intelligible  by  the  illiterate.  They  were  calculated  to 
inform  the  ignorant,  to  alarm  the  careless  and  secure,  and 
to  edify  and  comfort  the  faithful."  Such  a  man's  pastorate 
would  be  likely  to  bear  fruit  in  the  quiet  and  continuous 
development  of  a  high  sentiment  in  the  community.  Before 
his  pastorate  he  engaged  in  some  religious  disputes,  and 
these  are  embodied  in  two  sermons.  Other  discussions 
were  carried  on  by  him  after  his  settlement ;  but  his  only 
publications  are  seven  discourses,  the  last  of  which  is  a  ser- 
mon on  the  life  and  character  of  his  predecessor,  Mr.  Davies. 
He  was  above  all  a  student,  a  teacher,  and  a  faithful,  intelli- 
s^ent  and  successful  administrator  of  the  two  educational 
institutions  with  which  he  was  officially  connected.  Not 
long  after  his  settlement  at  Nottingham  he  began  to  gather 
about  him  pupils,  following  the  example  of  William  Tennent 
on  the  Neshaminy.  No  doubt  he  was  led  into  this  work 
by  his  sense  of  the  need  of  ministers  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  ;  but  his  pupils  were  not  all  candidates  for  the  sacred 
ministry.  The  names  of  some  of  the  more  distinguished 
of  these  pupils  have  already  been  mentioned  in  another 
connection.  The  success  of  Dr.  Finley  in  the  Nottingham 
Academy,  and  the  impression  made  by  his  personality  and 
his  learning  on  his  brethren  of  the  ministry,  led  many  of 
them  early  to  think  of  him  as  a  suitable  candidate  for  the 
Presidency  of  Nassau  Hall.  He  was  President  for  five 
years.  It  was  a  period  of  quiet  but  rapid  and  healthful  de- 
velopment. The  number  of  students  was  increased.  The 
curriculum  was  enriched.  The  success  of  the  College  is  in- 
dicated by  the  fact,  that  during  his  administration  the  sal- 


i»r  >M  ^^'t'^^  <■  \~~i  ^  1*^  Mini' 


t  H*T  f   ^-rw^j-w^fW'v.'vw^f w-vfH"w-v%WiP>fw^fV%nd'v^^^^tM^ 


5w 
rv 


SJI- 


Samuel  Finley. 
1761  -  1766. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  377 

aries  of  the  President  and  the  Faculty  were  enlarged,  and 
two  tutors  were  added  to  the  teaching  force.     To  the  gram- 
mar-school, founded  by  Burr,  and  taken  under  the  govern- 
ment of  the  College  during  Burr's  presidency,  was  added 
an  English  school,  which  the  Trustees  ordered  "to  be  under 
the  inspection  and  government  of  the  President  of  the  Col- 
lege for  the  time  being."     So  large  had  the  College  become, 
that  in  1765,  at  the  last  commencement  held  by  Dr.  Finley, 
thirty-one  students  were  admitted  to  the  first  degree  in  the 
arts,  and  eleven  others  were  made  Masters.     The  President 
was  the  most  important  and  laborious  of  the  teachers.     In- 
deed, we  are  told  that  it  was  his  unremitted  application  to 
the  duties  of  his  office  that  impaired  his  health  and  brought 
about  his  death  when   only  fifty-one  years  of  age.     The 
impression  made  by  him  on  his  students  is  well  stated  by 
one  of  them,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Woodhull,  of  Monmouth. 
"His  learning,"  says  Dr.  Woodhull,  "was  very  extensive. 
Every  branch  of  study  taught  in  the  College  appeared  to 
be  familiar  to  him.     Among  other  things,  he  taught  Latin, 
Greek  and  Hebrew  in  the  senior  year.     He  was  highly  re- 
spected and  greatly  beloved  by  the  students,  and  had  very 
little  difficulty  in  governing  the  College."     Dr.  Finley's  was 
the  last  administration  during  which  the  instruction  of  the 
College  was  given  by  the  President  aided  only  by  tutors. 
As  yet  there  were  no  professorships.     The  earliest  profes- 
sor named  in  the  Triennial  Catalogue  is  John   Blair,  who 
was  elected  the  year  succeeding  Finley's  death.     During 
Finley's  administration  the  number  of  tutors  was  increased 
by  two.     These  were   Samuel   Blair,  who,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-six,  was   called  to  the   Presidency  of  the   College, 
and  the  second  Jonathan  Edwards,  only  less  distinguished 
tha'n  his  father  as  a  theologian,  and  for  two  years  the  Presi- 
dent of  Union  College. 

During  the  administration   of  Dr.   Finley  the   freshman 


380  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

because  the  College  had  suffered  so  many  times  the  loss  of 
its  President.  In  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  its  life 
it  has  had  only  twelve  Presidents,  but  five  of  these  were  in 
their  graves  when  the  institution  was  only  twenty  years 
old.  Soon  after  Dr.  Finley's  death  the  Board  of  Trustees 
unanimously  elected  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Witherspoon,  of 
Paisley,  Scotland.  Richard  Stockton,  a  graduate  of  the 
College,  a  member  of  the  Board,  and  afterwards,  with  Dr. 
Witherspoon,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
was  in  England  at  the  time ;  and  the  Trustees  requested 
him  to  visit  Dr.  Witherspoon  and  urge  his  acceptance. 
While  awaiting  his  reply,  negotiations  were  carried  on  for 
the  admission  into  the  Board  of  representatives  of  that  por- 
tion of  the  now  reunited  Presbyterian  Church  which  had 
taken  no  part  in  the  establishment  of  the  College,  and  which 
up  to  this  time  had  shown  little  interest  in  its  maintenance. 
As  part  of  these  negotiations  it  was  voted  to  increase  the 
Faculty  by  the  election  of  several  professors.  One  of  the 
new  professors,  the  Rev.  John  Blair,^  professor  of  Divinity 
and  Morality,  was  chosen  Vice-President  until  the  next 
commencement.  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  of  Philadelphia, 
was  elected  professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philoso- 
phy, and  Jonathan  Edwards,  then  a  tutor  in  the  College  and 
the  son   of  the  former  President,  professor  of  Languages 

'John  Blair  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  was  born  in  the  year  1720.  He 
was  a  younger  brother  of  Samuel  Blair,  one  of  the  first  Trustees  of  the  Col- 
lege. He  was  educated  at  the  Log  College.  He  was  ordained  in  1742,  and 
became  pastor  of  the  Middle  Spring  Church  in  Cumberland  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  1757  he  went  to  Fagg's  Manor,  and  became  pastor,  succeeding  his 
brother  in  the  pulpit  and  also  as  the  principal  of  the  classical  school.  He 
prepared  many  students  for  the  ministry.  After  his  resignation  as  professor 
of  Divinity  in  Princeton  College  he  was  settled  as  pastor  at  Walkill,  Orange 
County,  New  York,  where  he  died  Decembers,  1771.  Dr.  Archibald  Alex- 
ander says  of  him,  that  "  as  a  theologian  he  was  not  inferior  to  any  man  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  his  day." 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  381 

and  Logic.  News  having  reached  the  Trustees  that  With- 
erspoon  had  dechned,  the  Board  elected  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Blair,  pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church  in  Boston,  to  the 
presidency,  and  appointed  him  also  professor  of  Rhetoric 
and  Metaphysics.  Blair's  election  was  unanimous.  He 
was  the  first  graduate  of  the  College  elected  to  the  office. 
He  was  only  twenty-six  years  of  age.  He  was  the  son  of 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Blair,  of  whom  mention  has  already  been 
made  as  the  founder  and  principal  of  the  Classical  School 
at  Fagg's  Manor,  in  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania.  He 
was  graduated  in  1760,  and  was  tutor  in  the  College  from 
1 76 1  to  1764.  No  man  in  the  Church  at  that  time  gave 
greater  promise.  He  was  successful  as  a  student,  as  a 
teacher,  and  as  a  preacher ;  but,  more  than  all,  he  impressed 
men  by  the  beauty  and  strength  of  his  character.  His 
magnanimity  had  now  given  to  it  a  signal  opportunity  for 
exercise.  He  was  anxious  to  accept  the  position  to  which 
he  had  been  chosen  with  cordiality.  He  had  every  reason 
to  trust  himself  in  the  office ;  but,  like  the  Trustees,  he 
was  convinced  that  no  one  else  could  so  well  occupy  the 
position  as  Witherspoon,  if  only  he  could  be  induced  to  ac- 
cept it.  Therefore  he  placed  his  declinature  in  the  hands 
of  a  member  of  the  Board,  to  be  presented  if  it  seemed  pos- 
sible to  secure  Witherspoon,  and  urged  on  the  Trustees  the 
policy  of  endeavoring  to  induce  Witherspoon  to  reopen  the 
question  of  removing  to  America.  This  policy  was  suc- 
cessful. Witherspoon  expressed  his  willingness  to  come  if 
he  should  be  reelected.  Blair's  declinature  was  accepted, 
and  Witherspoon  became  the  sixth  President  of  the 
College. 

John  Witherspoon  was  at  this  time  forty-five  years  of 
age.  He  had  already  had  an  influential  career  in  the 
Church  of  Scotland.  He  was  the  son  of  a  minister,  and 
came  from  a  ministerial  ancestry.     His  father  was  an  able 


382  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

and   faithful   pastor,   and   through   his   mother   he  was   de- 
scended from  John  Knox.     When  fourteen  years  of  age  he 
entered  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and  after  a  course  of 
seven  years   became  a   licentiate.       Both  his  college  and 
theological  courses  gave  promise  of  distinction.     "At  the 
divinity  hall  he  stood  unrivalled  for  perspicuity  of  style, 
logical  accuracy  of  thought  and  taste  in  Sacred  Criticism." 
In  1744  he  was  presented  by  the  Earl  of  Eglinton  with  the 
living  of  Beith  in  West  Scotland.     There  he  remained  for 
between  twelve  and  thirteen  years.     He  not  only  was  suc- 
cessful as  a  parish   minister,  but   he   appeared  before   the 
public  as  an  author.     His  first  volume  gave  him  national 
fame.     It  was  entided  "Ecclesiastical   Characteristics;   or, 
The  Arcana  of  Church  Policy."     It  was  written  at  the  time 
when  the  Moderate  party  was  dominant  in  the  Church,  and 
it  satirized  sharply  but  without  ill  nature  the  principles  and 
the   conduct  of  the  Moderates.      The  wide  difference  be- 
tween the  platform  of  the  party  and  the  symbolical  plat- 
form of  the  Church  offered  the  satirist  a  fine  opportunity. 
Witherspoon  admirably  improved  it.     His  work  was  widely 
read,  exerted  a   good  deal  of  influence  and  increased   his 
popularity.       In    ten    years    five    editions  were    published. 
Soon  after  the  publication  of  the  first  edition,  which  did  not 
bear  the  name   of  the    author,  he  published    "A  Serious 
Apology "  for  the  satire  and  confessed  himself  its  author. 
Not  long  after  he  published  two   "  Essays  in  Theology," 
on  justification  and  regeneration,  which  made  him  known 
as  a  theologian  of  ability.     The  essays  embodied  and  de- 
fended evangelical  and  Calvinistic  views.     His  ministry  at 
Paisley  was  quite  as  successful  as  that  at  Beith.     Several 
of  his  discourses  were   published,  and  the   University  of 
Aberdeen,  in    1764,  gave  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Di- 
vinity.    At  the  time  of  his  call  to  the  presidency  of  the  Col- 
lege, he  was  in  reputation  behind  no  man  in  the  Evangeli- 


Di- 


^-^jthT-; t?^-t"'-!-"-4  '^^^^  f  -  ^-^-^^^J^JV^^SJ■^#vw^^J><■M^^^MlJ^rw^w^<■iir^^w^■^■v^ft^w^^^^»  ^.  y  - 


I  tl 


I.  -'-(f, v-.:* ''»'.'    "Si.'     ■■-.-. 


nr. 


Ml 


mi 

J1I 


John  Witherspoon. 

1-68-  1794. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  383 

cal  party  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  was,  perhaps, 
better  able  than  any  other  to  debate  in  the  Assembly  with 
the  leaders  of  the  Moderate  party,  like  Blair  and  Campbell 
and  Robertson. 

When  Witherspoon  came  to  America  the  Colonies  and 
the  British  Government  were  quarrelling.  In  1764  the 
Stamp  Act  was  passed.  The  colonists  arose  in  alarm  and 
anger  and  protested  against  it.  Two  years  later  the  Act 
was  repealed.  But  the  fact  that  it  had  been  passed,  and  the 
declaration  accompanying  the  repeal, —  namely,  that  Parlia- 
ment possessed  the  right  to  tax  the  Colonies  in  all  cases 
whatsoever, —  left  in  the  minds  of  the  colonists  a  feeling 
which  Lord  Shelburne  afterwards  described  as  "  an  unfor- 
tunate jealousy  and  distrust  of  the  English  Government." 
Already  this  feeling  had  been  manifested  in  the  public  ex- 
ercises at  Princeton  College.  On  more  than  one  occasion 
the  College  orators  had  been  enthusiastically  applauded 
when  unfolding  the  blessings  of  political  liberty ;  and  after 
the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,  except  in  the  vote  of  the 
Trustees  expressing  their  gratitude  to  the  King  for  its  re- 
peal, there  is  no  evidence  that  in  any  academic  function  the 
union  between  the  Colonies  and  the  mother  country  was 
mentioned  with  gratitude  or  pride.  This  silence  was  in 
marked  contrast  with  the  custom  of  the  College  in  earlier 
days,  when  the  greatness  of  the  British  Empire  was  a  favor- 
ite theme  for  college  oratory.  A  few  years  earlier  than  the 
date  of  Witherspoon's  arrival,  there  had  been  formed  in  the 
College  two  literary  societies  called  the  Well-meaning  and 
Plain-dealing  clubs,  out  of  which  afterwards  grew  the  Clio- 
sophic  and  American  Whig  societies.  In  these  clubs  the 
enmity  to  the  home  government  found  frequent  and  at 
times  violent  expression.  The  College,  the  province  in 
which  it  had  its  home,  and  the  provinces  on  each  side  of 
it,  while  not  so  active  as  Massachusetts  or  Virginia,  were 


386  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

If  Witherspoon's  strong  personality  made  him  an  uncom- 
promising college  ruler,  he  only  followed  the  advice  which 
he  gave  to  the  tutors,  namely:  "Maintain  the  authority  of 
the  laws  in  their  full  extent,  and  fear  no  consequences."  At 
the  same  time,  so  inspiriting  and  stimulating  were  the  man 
and  his  lectures  that  the  rigor  of  his  rule  is  not  often  men- 
tioned by  his  pupils.  Ashbel  Green  and  Stanhope  Smith 
and  James  Madison  were  won  by  him ;  their  energies  were 
called  out,  and  their  powers  genially  disciplined. 

The  plans  which  Witherspoon  and  the  Trustees  had 
formed  for  the  enlargement  of  the  institution  were  largely 
frustrated  by  the  political  events  then  occurring  in  the 
country.  But  the  college  curriculum  was  extended ;  the 
teaching  force  was  increased ;  ^  endowments  were  secured ; 

'  One  of  the  professors  during  his  administration  was  WiUiam  Churchill 
Houston,  who  was  born  in  North  CaroHna  in  1740.  He  came  to  Princeton 
and  taught  in  the  grammar-school.  He  afterwards  entered  the  College  and 
was  graduated  in  1768.  He  was  at  once  appointed  a  tutor.  In  1771  he  was 
elected  professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy.  When  the  War  of 
the  Revolution  began,  he  entered  the  army  and  was  for  some  months  a  captain. 
He  resigned  and  resumed  his  work  as  professor.  But,  like  Dr.  Witherspoon, 
he  was  elected  to  office,  first  as  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  of  New 
Jersey,  then  as  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Safety,  and  in  1779  as  a  member 
of  Congress.  He  resigned  his  professorship  in  1783  and  was  admitted  to  the 
bar.  In  1784  he  was  again  elected  to  Congress,  and  was  a  delegate  to  the 
Convention  at  Annapolis  in  1786.      He  died  in  1788. 

Another  of  the  professors  elected  during  Witherspoon's  administration  was 
Walter  Minto,  who  was  born  in  Cowdenham,  Scotland,  December  5,  1753. 
At  fifteen  years  of  age  he  entered  the  University  of  Edinburgh  ;  "  after  com- 
pleting his  preparatory  studies  he  turned  his  attention  to  Theology,  rather,  it 
would  appear  from  subsequent  events,  to  meet  the  expectations  of  friends  than 
from  his  own  unbiased  choice."  During  this  period  he  devoted  quite  as  much 
time  to  literature  as  to  divinity,  and  became  a  frequent  contributor  to  a  peri- 
odical called  "  The  Gentleman  and  Lady's  Magazine "  and  published  in 
Edinburgh.  He  visited  Italy,  having  in  charge  as  tutor  two  sons  of  the  Hon. 
George  Johnstone,  formerly  Governor  of  West  Florida  and  member  of  the 
British  Parliament.  On  his  return  he  resided  in  Edinburgh  as  a  teacher  in 
mathematics.     "  His  reputation   as  a  man  of  science  appears  to  have  been 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  387 

a  larger  body  of  students  than  ever  before  were  under  the 
instruction  of  the  Faculty,  and  they  were  drawn  from  a 
wider  area.  During  his  administration  the  largest  class 
which  was  graduated  in  the  eighteenth  century  received 
their  degrees,  but  it  is  also  true  that  during  his  administra- 
tion the  smallest  class  was  graduated.  This  was  not  the 
fault  of  the  President.  The  position  of  Princeton  on  the 
highway  between  New  York  and  Philadelphia  made  it  a 
perilous  place  during  the  earlier  years  of  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence. A  critical  battle  of  the  war  was  fought  within 
the  limits  of  the  village.  The  college  campus  was  the 
scene  of  active  hostilities.  Nassau  Hall  itself  was  employed 
as  barracks,  and  cannon-balls  mutilated  its  walls.  There  are 
few  memorials  in  Princeton  more  highly  valued  to-day  than 
the  two  cannons  now  standing  in  the  campus,  both  of  which 
were  used  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  and  left  after  the 
battle  of  Princeton  near  the  College. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  Cliosophic  and 
American  Whig  societies,  the  two  literary  societies  of  the 
College,  which  have  been  in  existence  from  the  date  of  their 

considerable,  arising  probably  from  his  correspondence  with  the  philosophers 
of  Great  Britain,  and  several  minor  publications  on  the  subject  of  Astronomy." 
In  connection  with  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  he  wrote  the  life  of  Napier  of  Mer- 
chiston,  the  inventor  of  logarithms  ;  the  Earl  writing  the  biographical  portion, 
and  Minto  the  scientific  portion,  including  a  vindication  of  Napier's  claims  to 
the  original  invention.  He  sailed  for  America  in  1786,  and  became  principal 
of  Erasmus  Hall,  a  school  at  Flatbush,  Long  Island.  In  1787  he  was  called 
to  the  professorship  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy  in  Princeton  Col- 
lege as  the  successor  of  Ashbel  Green.  "  Of  his  colleagues  and  pupils  Dr. 
Minto  enjoyed  the  confidence  in  an  unusual  degree."  He  was  the  treasurer 
of  the  corporation.  He  received  continual  applications  from  parents  to 
receive  their  sons  beneath  his  roof  on  account  of  the  advantages  which  they 
supposed  would  be  enjoyed  within  the  limits  of  his  domestic  circle.  The  text- 
books in  mathematics  which  his  pupils  used  were  prepared  by  himself  He 
died  in  Princeton,  October  21,  1796. —  Abridged  from  the  "Princeton 
Magazine,"  Vol.  I,  No.  i. 


388  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

foundation  to  the  present  time.     These  societies  had  their 
beginning  in  two  debating  clubs.     The  earher  name  of  the 
American  Whig  Society  was  the  Plain-deahng  Club ;  that 
of  the  Cliosophic  Society,  the  Well-meaning  Club.     These 
earlier  societies  appear  to  have  been  organized  during  the 
excitement  caused  by  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act.     In 
both  of  them  the  patriotism  of  the  College  found  expression  ; 
but  out  of  their  rivalry  there   grew  serious   disturbances. 
These  led  the   Faculty,  in    1768,  to  forbid  their  meetings. 
The  societies  were  soon  revived  under  different  names ;  the 
Plain-dealing  adopting  a  name  indicating  the  political  views 
of  its  members,  the  Well-meaning  one  expressive  of  its  lit- 
erary aims.     But  politics  was  not  the  exclusive  interest  in 
the  one,  nor  was  literature  in  the  other.     One  word  in  the 
motto  of  the  Whig  Society  is  litercB ;  and  the  founders  of 
Clio  Hall  were  quite  as  much  in  sympathy  as  those  of  the 
Whig  with  the  aims  and  struggles  of  the  Colonists.     The 
College  itself  does  not  possess  a  more  distinguished  list  of 
founders  than  does  each  of  these  societies.     William  Pater- 
son,  Luther  Martin,  Oliver  Ellsworth  and  Tapping  Reeve 
laid  the  foundations  of  Clio  Hall,  and  James  Madison,  John 
Henry  and    Samuel    Stanhope    Smith   revived   the    Plain- 
dealing  Club  under  the  name  of  the  American  Whig  So- 
ciety.    The  interior  life  of  these  institutions  is  not  open  to 
the   public.     Their  members  have  pursued  the  aims  of  the 
society  in  essay  and  oration  and  debate  with  the  freedom 
which   belongs  to  sessions  held  /;/  camera.     Their  judges 
have  been  their  peers.     The  Faculty  of  the  College  during 
all  their  life    have  accorded  to  them   great   freedom,   and 
have  interposed  only  when  the  violence  of  youthful  feelings 
seemed  likely  to  injure,  if  not  to  destroy,  the  societies  them- 
selves.    Fortunately,  crises  of  this  kind  have  been  very  few. 
The  sense  of  independence  and  responsibility  has  given  to 
the  societies  dignity,  and  they  have  earned  the  tribute  paid 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  389 

in  later  years  by  President  McCosh,  that  "  no  department 
of  the  College  has  conferred  greater  benefit  upon  the  students 
than  have  Whig  and  Clio  Halls." 

Perhaps,  at  no  later  period  in  their  history  have  they  been 
more  useful  than   they  were  during  the  administration  of 
John  Witherspoon.     Life,  during  the  periods  immediately 
preceding   the   Revolutionary  War   and    immediately  suc- 
ceeding it  while  the   Constitution  was  being  formed  and 
adopted,  was  intense.     During  the  first  period  the  question 
of  the   maintenance  of  independence   was   agitating   every 
man ;  and,  during  the  second,  the  problem  of  the  new  gov- 
ernment which  was  to  unite  the  victorious  Colonies  offered 
itself  for  solution  to  every  thoughtful  mind.     It  is  an  in- 
teresting fact  that  the  two  plans  of  constitutional  government 
for  the  United  States,  which  were  debated  at  length  in  the 
Convention  that  formed   the   Constitution,  were  presented 
to  that  body  by  two  of  the  founders  of  these  literary  socie- 
ties.     The  one  which  laid  the  greater  stress  on  the  rights 
of  the  individual  States  was  presented  by  William  Paterson 
of  New  Jersey ;  the  other,  which  contemplated  a  stronger 
federal   government,  was  proposed    by  James   Madison  of 
Virginia.     During  the  war  the  societies,  with  the  College, 
suffered  greatly;  but  when  the  war  ended  they  were  revived. 
Originally,  each  society  had  a  patronage  dependent  upon 
the  sections  from  which  its  members  came.     Ashbel  Green, 
who  was  active  in  reviving  the  American  Whig  Society 
after  the  war,  says  that  at  the  time  of  this  revival  "  the  sec- 
tional   patronage    was    entirely    done   away."     Princeton's 
interest  and  Witherspoon's  labor  in  the  cause  of  the  Colo- 
nies against  the  mother  country  received  at  the  close  of  the 
war  what  the  sons  of  Princeton  have  always  interpreted  as 
an  honorable  recognition.     When  the  soldiers  of  the  army 
mutinied  and  surrounded  the  State  House  in  Philadelphia, 
where  the  Continental  Congress  was  sitting,  Princeton  was 


390  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

selected  as  the  temporary  capital  of  the  United  States. 
For  several  months  the  Congress  held  its  sittings  in  the 
Library  Room  of  Nassau  Hall,  and  the  rooms  of  the  stu- 
dents were  used  by  committees.  At  the  commencement  of 
1783  "we  had,"  says  Ashbel  Green,  "  on  the  stage  with  the 
Trustees  and  the  graduating  class,  the  whole  of  the  Congress, 
the  Ministers  of  France  and  Holland,  and  George  Wash- 
ington, the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  American  army." 
Washington  contributed  for  the  uses  of  the  College  fifty 
guineas,  which  the  Trustees  employed  to  procure  the  por- 
trait of  him,  painted  by  the  elder  Peale,  which  now  hangs 
in  the  portion  of  Nassau  Hall  in  which  the  Congress  sat. 
Writing  in  1842,  Dr.  Green  says:  "The  picture  now  occu- 
pies the  place,  and  it  is  affirmed  the  very  frame,  that 
contained  the  picture  of  George  the  Second,  which  was 
decapitated  by  Washington's  artillery." 

At  the  close  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  administration  in  1794, 
the  College  had  been  in  existence  nearly  half  a  century. 
In  the  careers  of  those  whom  an  institution  has  trained, 
after  all,  is  to  be  found  its  title  to  honor  or  condemnation. 
The  general  catalogue  of  no  collegiate  institution,  for  the 
first  fifty  years  of  its  existence,  presents  a  more  remarkable 
series  of  great  names  in  Church  and  State.  The  clerical, 
medical  and  legal  professions  are  represented  by  influential 
and  illustrious  names.  The  cause  of  the  higher  education 
is  represented  by  great  teachers  and  administrators.  To  the 
Continental  Congress  and  to  the  Continental  army  the  Col- 
lege gave  eminent  and  patriotic  members  and  officers.  The 
graduates  of  no  other  college  were  so  numerous  or  so  influ- 
ential in  the  Constitutional  Convention.  Its  alumni  of  this 
period  were  to  be  found  in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  in 
the  Legislatures  of  the  different  States,  and  in  the  chairs  of 
Governors,  in  the  seat  of  the  Chief  Justice,  in  the  courts 
of  the  various  States,  in  the  Cabinets  of  Presidents,  and  as 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  391 

envoys  of  the  Republic  at  foreign  capitals.  Of  the  earlier 
administrations,  the  administration  of  Witherspoon  is  the 
most  illustrious  if  judged  by  the  brilliant  careers  of  its 
students.  It  was  given  to  no  other  man  in  the  eighteenth 
century  to  take  the  most  prominent  part  in  the  education  of 
thirteen  presidents  of  colleges.  During  his  presidency 
there  were  graduated  six  men  who  afterwards  became 
delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress,  twenty  men  who 
represented  their  respective  commonwealths  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  and  twenty-four  who  sat  as  members 
of  the  House  of  Representatives.  Thirteen  were  Governors 
of  Commonwealths,  three  were  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  one  was  Vice-President,  and  one  was  President  of 
the  United  States.  Upon  the  characters  of  most  of  these 
Witherspoon  set  his  mark.  They  were  imbued  with  his 
views  in  philosophy  and  morals.  His  high  and  profound 
religious  character  gave  tone  to  their  lives ;  and  his  patri- 
otism wrought  in  them  as  an  inspiration.  If  the  greatness  of 
a  man  is  to  be  measured  by  the  influence  he  has  exerted  on 
other  minds,  John  Witherspoon  must  be  remembered  as  one 
of  the  foremost  men  of  the  Republic  during  its  heroic  period. 
The  close  of  his  administration  was  but  little  in  advance  of 
the  close  of  his  life.  He  was  able  to  preside  at  the  annual 
commencement  on  the  twenty-third  of  September,  1794,  and 
less  than  eight  weeks  afterwards,  on  the  fifteenth  of  Novem- 
ber, veueratus,  dilectus,  Itigendits  omnibus^  he  passed  to  his 
reward. 

VII.     The  Administrations  of  Samuel  Stanhope 
Smith  and  Ashbel  Green. 

Up  to  the   close  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  presidency,   the 
College  during  each  administration  derived  its  special  traits 

'  From  the  inscription  on  his  tombstone. 


390 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 


selected  as  the  temporary  capital  of  the  United  States. 
For  several  months  the  Congress  held  its  sittings  in  the 
Library  Room  of  Nassau  Hall,  and  the  rooms  of  the  stu- 
dents were  used  by  committees.  At  the  commencement  of 
1783  "we  had,"  says  Ashbel  Green,  "on  the  stage  with  the 
Trustees  and  the  graduating  class,  the  whole  of  the  Congress, 
the  Ministers  of  France  and  Holland,  and  George  Wash- 
ington, the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  American' army." 
Washington  contributed  for  the  uses  of  the  College  fifty 
guineas,  which  the  Trustees  employed  to  procure  the  por- 
trait of  him,  painted  by  the  elder  Peale,  which  now  hangs 
in  the  portion  of  Nassau  Hall  in  which  the  Congress  sat. 
Writing  in  1842,  Dr.  Green  says:  "The  picture  now  occu- 
pies the  place,  and  it  is  affirmed  the  very  frame,  that 
contained  the  picture  of  George  the  Second,  which  was 
decapitated  by  Washington's  artillery." 

At  the  close  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  administration  in  1794, 
the  College  had  been  in  existence  nearly  half  a  century. 
In  the  careers  of  those  whom  an  institution  has  trained, 
after  all,  is  to  be  found  its  title  to  honor  or  condemnation. 
The  general  catalogue  of  no  collegiate  institution,  for  the 
first  fifty  years  of  its  existence,  presents  a  more  remarkable 
series  of  great  names  in  Church  and  State.  The  clerical, 
medical  and  legal  professions  are  represented  by  influential 
and  illustrious  names.  The  cause  of  the  higher  education 
is  represented  by  great  teachers  and  administrators.  To  the 
Continental  Congress  and  to  the  Continental  army  the  Col- 
lege gave  eminent  and  patriotic  members  and  officers.  The 
graduates  of  no  other  college  were  so  numerous  or  so  influ- 
ential in  the  Constitutional  Convention.  Its  alumni  of  this 
period  were  to  be  found  in  the  two  Houses  of  Congress,  in 
the  Legislatures  of  the  different  States,  and  in  the  chairs  of 
Governors,  in  the  seat  of  the  Chief  Justice,  in  the  courts 
of  the  various  States,  in  the  Cabinets  of  Presidents,  and  as 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 


391 


envoys  of  the  Republic  at  foreign  capitals.  Of  the  earlier 
administrations,  the  administration  of  Witherspoon  is  the 
most  illustrious  if  judged  by  the  brilliant  careers  of  its 
students.  It  was  given  to  no  other  man  in  the  eighteenth 
century  to  take  the  most  prominent  part  in  the  education  of 
thirteen  presidents  of  colleges.  During  his  presidency 
there  were  graduated  six  men  who  afterwards  became 
delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress,  twenty  men  who 
represented  their  respective  commonwealths  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  and  twenty-four  who  sat  as  members 
of  the  House  of  Representatives.  Thirteen  were  Governors 
of  Commonwealths,  three  were  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  one  was  Vice-President,  and  one  was  President  of 
the  United  States.  Upon  the  characters  of  most  of  these 
Witherspoon  set  his  mark.  They  were  imbued  with  his 
views  in  philosophy  and  morals.  His  high  and  profound 
religious  character  gave  tone  to  their  lives ;  and  his  patri- 
otism wrought  in  them  as  an  inspiration.  If  the  greatness  of 
a  man  is  to  be  measured  by  the  influence  he  has  exerted  on 
other  minds,  John  Witherspoon  must  be  remembered  as  one 
of  the  foremost  men  of  the  Republic  during  its  heroic  period. 
The  close  of  his  administration  was  but  little  in  advance  of 
the  close  of  his  life.  He  was  able  to  preside  at  the  annual 
commencement  on  the  twenty-third  of  September,  1794,  and 
less  than  eight  weeks  afterwards,  on  the  fifteenth  of  Novem- 
ber, veneratits,  dilectits,  lugendiis  omnibus}  he  passed  to  his 
reward. 


VII.     The  Administrations  of  Samuel  Stanhope 
Smith  and  Ashbel  Green. 


Up  to  the   close  of  Dr.  Witherspoon's  presidency,   the 
College  during  each  administration  derived  its  special  traits 

'  From  the  inscription  on  his  tombstone. 


I- 


\ 


392  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

almost  wholly  from  the  President.  He  determined  its  cur- 
riculum ;  he  exercised  its  discipline  in  all  serious  cases ;  he 
begged  money  for  its  maintenance ;  he  led  its  religious  life ; 
he  taught  several  branches  of  learning  to  the  members  of 
the  higher  classes.  The  distance  at  which  many  of  the  Trus- 
tees lived,  and  the  difficulties  of  travel,  prevented  frequent 
meetings  of  the  Board,  and  threw  on  him  responsibilities 
in  number  and  variety  far  beyond  those  now  devolved  on 
college  presidents.  The  Faculty  of  Instruction  was  made 
up  of  himself  and  two  or  three  tutors.  The  latter,  by  the 
constitution  of  the  College,  were  so  completely  under  his 
direction  as  scarcely  to  deserve  the  name  of  colleagues. 
The  relation  between  the  President  and  the  students  was 
immediate  and  close.  He  stood  to  them  /;/  loco  parentis ; 
and  they  felt  at  liberty  to  go  to  him  at  all  times  for  advice 
and  for  aid. 

Princeton  was  fortunate  in  its  Presidents.  Each  was  fitted 
by  his  character  and  prepared  by  his  previous  career  for 
the  conduct  of  an  office  of  this  character.  All  had  been 
pastors.  In  obedience  to  what  he  believed  to  be  a  divine 
vocation,  each  in  early  manhood  had  undertaken  the  cure 
of  souls.  Some  of  them  had  successfully  conducted  private 
schools,  and  all  had  had  their  religious  affections  warmed 
by  the  Evangelical  Revival.  If  some  of  the  readers  of  this 
historical  sketch  should  be  disposed  to  criticise  it  because 
so  much  attention  has  been  given  to  the  Presidents,  the 
answer  is  obvious :  the  life  of  the  College  was  determined 
and  directed  almost  wholly  by  the  President  for  the  time 
being.  To  send  a  student  to  Princeton  was  to  commit  him 
to  Samuel  Davies,  or  Samuel  Finley,  or  John  Witherspoon, 
for  the  formation  of  his  character,  for  the  discipline  of  his 
faculties,  and  in  some  measure  for  the  direction  of  his  sub- 
sequent life. 

The  death  of  Witherspoon  is  the  point  in  the  life  of  the 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  393 

College  at  which  the  President  loses  much  of  his  relative 
prominence.  Up  to  this  point  the  Chief  Executive  gives 
character  to  the  institution ;  from  this  point  onward  the  in- 
stitution has  a  life  of  its  own.  Of  course,  the  President  is 
always  the  great  figure  in  a  college.  But  the  Presidents  of 
Princeton  after  Witherspoon  are  far  less  prominent  than  the 
institution,  and  the  success  of  their  administrations  is  due  to 
the  exaltation  of  the  College  at  the  expense  of  activities  to 
which  their  gifts  would  otherwise  have  impelled  them.  Jon- 
athan Edwards  expected  to  find  in  the  presidency  of  the 
Princeton  College  of  his  day  an  opportunity  for  literary  ac- 
tivity, and  planned  to  compose  here  a  great  Philosophy  of 
History  with  the  title,  "  The  History  of  Redemption"  ;  but 
James  McCosh,  though  always  industrious  as  a  writer,  found 
the  administrative  duties  of  his  position  so  various  and  so 
commanding  as  absolutely  to  forbid  the  composition  of  vol- 
umes like  those  which  had  given  him  distinction  before  he 
came  to  America. 

On  the  sixth  day  of  May,  1795,  the  Trustees  unanimously 
elected  Dr.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith  Dr.  Witherspoon's  suc- 
cessor. Dr.  Smith  had  been  Vice-President  since  1789,  and 
from  that  time  on  had  relieved  the  President  of  many  of 
the  burdens  of  his  office.  He  accepted  at  once,  appeared 
before  the  Board,  and  took  the  oath  of  office.  His  in- 
auguration was  postponed  until  the  next  commencement, 
the  thirtieth  of  September  following,  when  he  delivered  an 
inaugural  address  in  the  Latin  language.  For  the  first 
time,  the  salary  of  the  President  was  designated  in  the  coin- 
age of  the  United  States.  It  was  fixed  at  fifteen  hundred 
dollars  a  year,  with  the  usual  perquisites. 

The  new  President  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  son  of  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  of  Pequea. 
His  mother  was  a  sister  of  Samuel  Blair,  the  head  of  the 
Academy  at  Fagg's  Manor.     He  was  the  first  alumnus  of 


394  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

the  College  to  fill  the  presidency.  He  was  graduated  in 
1769,  and  as  the  first  scholar  of  his  class  pronounced  the 
Latin  salutatory.  A  year  after  his  graduation,  when  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  he  returned  to  Princeton  as  tutor  in  the 
College,  and  for  the  purpose  of  reading  Divinity  under  Dr. 
Witherspoon.  His  special  duties  as  tutor  were  to  give  in- 
struction in  the  classics  and  in  belles-lettres.  Here  he  re- 
mained until  1773,  when  he  went  to  Virginia  as  a  mis- 
sionary. The  interest  awakened  by  his  preaching  was  deep 
and  wide-spread.  "  Throughout  the  Middle  and  Southern 
States,"  says  Dr.  Philip  Lindsley,  "he  was  regarded  as  a 
most  eloquent  and  learned  Divine  by  his  contemporaries." 
It  was  the  impression  made  by  him  as  a  preacher  and  a 
man  of  culture  that  led  to  his  call  as  the  first  President  of 
Hampden  Sidney  College.  Here  he  labored  as  President 
three  or  four  years.  The  state  of  his  health  compelled  him 
to  resign.  In  1779  he  was  invited  to  become  Professor  of 
Moral  Philosophy  at  Princeton,  and  though  strongly  at- 
tached to  the  work  in  which  he  had  been  engaged  in  Vir- 
ginia, he  accepted,  and  from  this  time  on  labored  for  his 
Alma  Mater.  He  came  only  two  years  after  the  battle  of 
Princeton.  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  a  member  of  Congress, 
and  a  large  amount  of  administrative  work  fell  on  Professor 
Smith.  This  work  was  done  under  most  difticult  conditions, 
for  he  was  never  strong  ;  and  on  several  occasions  he  was 
prostrated  by  hemorrhages  like  those  which  compelled  him  to 
retire  from  Hampden  Sidney.  Yet  he  neglected  no  work ; 
and  his  learning  obtained  recognition  from  the  two  older 
colleges  of  New  England  and  from  learned  societies.  In 
the  year  1785  he  was  made  an  honorary  member  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society,  and  delivered  its  anniver- 
sary oration — an  address  intended  to  establish  the  unity  of 
the  species.  In  1786  he  w^as  engaged,  with  other  eminent 
ministers  of  the   Church  with  which  he  was  connected,  in 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  395 

preparing  its  form  of  government  with  a  view  to  organizing 
the  General  Assembly. 

Dr.  Smith  was  anxious  to  extend  the  course  of  instruc- 
tion and  to  enlarge  the  teaching  body.  Besides  himself, 
at  the  time  of  his  accession  to  the  presidency,  Dr.  Minto 
was  the  only  professor.  Dr.  Smith  established  a  Profes- 
sorship of  Chemistry  the  year  of  his  accession  to  the  presi- 
dency. The  first  occupant  of  the  chair  was  John  Maclean, 
a  native  of  Glasgow  and  a  graduate  of  its  University. 
When  he  had  completed  his  medical  course,  he  gave  spe- 
cial attention  to  chemistry,  studying  at  Edinburgh,  London 
and  Paris.  While  at  Paris  he  adopted  new  theories,  not 
only  in  chemistry,  but  in  government.  He  became  a  re- 
publican and  emigrated  to  the  United  States.  Dr.  Ben- 
jamin Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  to  whom  he  brought  letters, 
recommended  him  to  settle  in  Princeton  and  practise  his 
profession.  Dr.  Rush,  at  the  same  time,  recommended  the 
College  to  secure  his  services  as  a  lecturer  in  chemistry. 
The  lectures  made  a  profound  impression.  In  1795  he  was 
elected  to  the  first  chair  of  Chemistry  established  in  any 
college  in  the  United  States.  It  was  through  Dr.  Maclean 
that  Princeton  College  was  enabled  to  perform  a  valuable 
service  for  Yale  College.  Benjamin  Silliman,  the  first  Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry  in  Yale  College,  writes  as  follows  in  his 
diary:  "  Brief  residence  in  Princeton.  At  this  celebrated 
seat  of  learning  an  eminent  gentleman,  Dr.  John  Maclean, 
resided  as  Professor  of  Chemistry,  etc.  I  early  obtained  an 
introduction  to  him  by  correspondence,  and  he  favored  me 
with  a  list  of  books  for  the  promotion  of  my  studies.  I  also 
passed  a  few  days  with  Dr.  Maclean  in  my  different  transits 
to  and  from  Philadelphia,  obtained  from  him  a  general  in- 
sight into  my  future  occupation,  inspected  his  library  and 
apparatus,  and  obtained  his  advice  respecting  many  things. 
Dr.  Maclean  was  a  man  of  brilliant  mind,  with  all  the  acu- 


398  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

were  the  labors  of  the  board  and  of  the  President  to  increase 
the  funds  of  the  institution,  that  they  not  only  rebuilt  Nassau 
Hall,  but  added  two  new  buildings — the  Philosophical  Hall, 
which  stood  upon  the  site  of  the  John  C.  Green  Library,  and 
a  building  for  sophomore  and  freshmen  recitation  rooms 
and  the  library,  the  building  now  used  for  the  College 
Offices.  South  of  the  latter  building,  where  Reunion  Hall  now 
stands,  was  built  a  dwelling-house  for  the  Professor  of  Lan- 
guages, which  was  occupied  until  it  was  taken  down  in  1870. 
Not  long  before  this,  immediately  in  front  of  the  Green 
Library,  and  on  a  line  with  the  President's  (now  the  Dean's) 
house,  had  already  been  built  a  dwelling-house  for  the  Pro- 
fessor of  Mathematics  and  Philosophy.  On  the  highest  floor 
of  the  building  now  known  as  the  College  Offices  two  rooms 
were  set  apart  for  the  Cliosophic  and  American  Whig  socie- 
ties. In  all  this  work  Dr.  Smith  took  the  lead  ;  and,  a  large 
part  of  his  time  being  taken  up  in  travelling  and  soliciting 
funds,  the  Rev.  Ashbel  Green,  a  trustee  of  the  College  and 
pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia, 
acted  as  President  during  his  absence.  The  success  attending 
the  efforts  to  rebuild  Nassau  Hall  and  to  add  the  buildings 
already  mentioned  encouraged  the  Trustees  to  increase  the 
number  of  professors.  The  College  was  growing  so  rapidly 
in  numbers  that  it  was  necessary  to  relieve  the  President  of 
a  part  of  his  duties.  Meanwhile  Dr.  Maclean  was  feeling 
greatly  the  burden  of  teaching  Mathematics  in  addition  to 
Chemistry  and  Natural  Philosophy.  In  1802  the  chair  of 
Languages   was    founded,  and   William    Thompson  ^   was 

'William  Thompson,  in  1802,  was  called  from  Dickinson  College,  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  he  had  been  Professor  of  Languages,  to  the  chair  with  the  same 
title  in  Princeton.  Dr.  Maclean  ("  Hist.,"  Vol.  II,  p.  45)  says  of  him:  "  He 
had  the  reputation  of  being  an  accurate  scholar,  a  good  teacher  and  an  ex- 
cellent man.  He  was  advanced  in  life  when  he  became  professor  in  Princeton 
College,  and  after  a  few  years,  his  mind  giving  way  under  the  pressure  of 
arduous  duties,  he  was  constrained  to  give  up  his  position,  and  died  not  long 
after." 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  399 

chosen  its  professor.  In  1803  Dr.  Henry  Kollock,^  a  grad- 
uate of  the  class  of  1794,  was  made  Professor  of  Theology, 
and  Andrew  Hunter,  also  an  alumnus,  was  made  Professor 
of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy. 

A  report  from  the  Faculty  to  the  Board  describes  in  great 
detail  the  curriculum,  of  which  Dr.  Maclean  justly  says 
that  no  one,  after  reading  it,  can  fail  to  see  that  the  labors 
of  the  President,  professors  and  tutors  must  have  been 
extremely  arduous,  that  the  course  of  instruction  was  liberal, 
and  that  in  many  respects  it  would  compare  favorably 
with  that  of  the  College  at  a  much  later  date.  So  rapidly 
did  the  number  of  students  increase,  that  in  1805  it  was 
proposed  to  erect  an  additional  building.  It  was  thought 
that  a  gentleman  interested  in  scientific  pursuits  would  aid 
the  College  in  this  matter ;  but  his  offer  was  withdrawn, 
with  the  result  that  seventy  students  were  compelled  to  room 
elsewhere  than  in  Nassau  Hall.  How  rapid  this  increase 
was  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  in  1806  fifty-four 
members  of  the  senior  class  were  admitted  to  the  first  degree 
in  the  arts.  At  no  previous  period  in  its  history  had  the 
College  attained  an  equal  degree  of  prosperity  and  reputa- 

'  Henry  Kollock  was  born  at  New  Providence,  New  Jersey,  December  14, 
1778,  and  was  graduated  at  Princeton,  1794.  In  1794  he  was  appointed 
tutor,  with  John  Henry  Hobart,  afterward  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop  of 
New  York,  who  says  of  Kollock :  "  Although  he  is  a  Democrat  and  Calvinist, 
he  is  the  most  intelligent,  gentlemanly  and  agreeable  companion  I  have  ever 
found."  He  pursued  his  theological  studies  without  a  preceptor,  and  "made 
considerable  proficiency,"  says  Dr.  Carnahan,  "  in  Hebrew,  Chaldee  and 
Arabic."  His  teachers  in  Theology  were  the  great  English  theologians, 
Anglican  and  Puritan.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1800,  and  soon  after 
became  pastor  of  the  church  of  Elizabethtown.  In  1803  he  returned  to 
Princeton  as  pastor  and  professor  of  Theology.  In  1806  he  accepted  a  call 
from  the  Independent  Presbyterian  Church  of  Savannah.  He  died  Decem- 
ber 29,  1 8 19.  Dr.  Carnahan,  Bishop  Capers,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and 
the  Hon.  John  M.  Berrien,  of  Georgia,  all  speak  of  him  as  a  man  of  great 
eloquence,  charming  in  society,  and  exceptionally  faithful  and  acceptable 
as  a  Christian  pastor. —  Vide  Sprague's  "Annals,"  Vol.  IV,  pp.  263  et  seq. 


400  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

tion.  The  Faculty  consisted  of  a  President,  four  professors, 
three  tutors,  and  an  instructor  in  French,  and  the  number  of 
students  had  risen  to  two  hundred.  Indeed,  the  number 
of  students  was  almost  too  large  for  the  Faculty.  Disturb- 
ances occurred  which  compelled  that  body  to  invoke  in  their 
behalf  the  authority  of  the  Trustees.  Commencement  day 
was  regarded  as  a  public  holiday  for  the  population  of  the 
entire  district  in  which  the  College  was  situated.  It  furnished 
an  occasion  for  other  than  academic  sport.  "  Eating  and 
drinking,"  says  Dr.  Maclean,  "  fiddling  and  dancing,  playing 
for  pennies,  and  testing  the  speed  of  their  horses,  were  the 
amusements  in  which  no  small  numbers  of  those  assembled 
on  such  occasions  were  wont  to  indulge.  And,  when  a  lad, 
the  writer  once  witnessed  a  bull-baiting  on  the  College 
grounds  while  the  exercises  were  going  on  in  the  Church." 
Just  because  of  the  College's  prosperity,  discipline  was 
difficult  to  exercise  ;  but,  on  the  whole,  the  internal  life  of  the 
institution  was  sound,  and  had  the  Trustees  not  interfered 
with  the  Faculty,  it  is  probable  that  the  difficulties  arising 
from  time  to  time  between  the  students  and  their  instructors 
would  have  been  more  easily  composed. 

In  1810  and  1811  conferences  were  held  between  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Trustees  and  a  committee  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  on  the  subject  of 
establishing  a  theological  seminary  for  that  Church.  The 
intimate  relations  between  the  College  and  the  General  As- 
sembly, the  large  support  that  the  College  had  received 
from  Presbyterians,  and  the  benefits  which  in  return  it  had 
conferred  upon  that  communion,  led  both  the  Trustees 
of  the  College  and  the  Committee  of  the  General  Assembly 
to  consider  seriously  the  question  of  affiliating  the  Theologi- 
cal Institution  so  closely  with  the  College  as  to  make  the 
two  institutions  one.  This  plan  was  soon  abandoned.  But 
the   Trustees   and   the   Committee  concurred   in   the   belief 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  401 

that  the  Seminary  might  well  find  its  home  near  to  the 
CoUeee;  and  an  ao^reement  was  made  by  which  the  Trus- 
tees  engaged  not  to  appoint  a  professor  of  theology  in  the 
College  should  the  Seminary  be  permanently  established  at 
Princeton.  The  College  retained  its  freedom,  and  the 
Seminary  was  established  as  an  institution  of  the  General 
Assembly,  beginning  its  life  in  1812.  While  the  immediate 
effect  of  the  establishment  of  this  new  institution  was,  as 
Dr.  Maclean  has  said,  to  bar  for  many  years  all  collection 
of  funds  for  the  improvement  of  the  College,  both  derived 
substantial  advantages  from  their  establishment  in  the  same 
town,  and  from  their  warm  friendship. 

Dr.  Smith  resigned  in  1812.  He  lived  seven  years  after 
his  retirement.  He  revised  and  published  some  of  his 
works.  He  died  on  August  21,  1819,  in  the  seventieth 
year  of  his  age.  The  graduates  of  the  College  during  his 
administration  did  not,  as  a  class,  gain  the  distinction 
reached  by  those  graduated  under  his  predecessor ;  but  the 
list  includes  a  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  two 
Presidents  pro  tempore  of  the  United  States  Senate,  nine 
United  States  senators,  twenty-five  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  four  members  of  the  President's  Cabi- 
net, five  ministers  to  foreign  courts,  eight  Governors  of 
States,  thirty-four  judges  and  chancellors,  and  twenty-one 
presidents  or  professors  of  colleges. 

Dr.  Ashbel  Green's  administration  of  the  College,  soon 
after  the  burning  of  Nassau  Hall,  in  1802,  was  so  success- 
ful, that  upon  Dr.  Smith's  resignation  he  was  unanimously 
chosen  the  President.  When  elected  he  was  a  trustee.  He 
was  an  alumnus.  His  father,  the  Rev.  Jacob  Green,  a 
graduate  of  Harvard,  was  one  of  the  trustees  named  by 
Governor  Belcher  in  the  second  charter ;  his  grandfather, 
the  Rev.  John  Pierson,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  was  one  of  the 
promoters  of  the  College  and  a  trustee  under  the  first  char- 


402  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

ter ;  and  his  great-grandfather,  Abraham  Pierson,  a  graduate 
of  Harvard,  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Yale,  and  its  first 
president  or  rector.  His  father  had  acted  as  President  of 
the  College,  with  the  title  of  Vice-President,  during  the 
period  intervening  between  the  death  of  Jonathan  Edwards 
and  the  election  of  Samuel  Davies.  Ashbel  Green  was 
born  at  Hanover,  in  Morris  County,  New  Jersey,  in  1762. 
He  was  graduated  at  the  College  in  1793,  and  delivered  the 
valedictory  oration.  Immediately  after  graduation  he  was 
appointed  tutor,  and  two  years  afterwards  was  elected  Pro- 
fessor of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy.  After  hold- 
ing his  professorship  for  a  year  and  a  half,  he  accepted 
a  call  from  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia. 
In  this  position  he  had  from  the  beginning  an  eminent 
career.  His  fine  presence,  courtly  manners  and  prominent 
family  connections  made  him  an  eminent  citizen  of  Phila- 
delphia. As  Philadelphia  at  that  time  was  the  national 
capital,  he  was  brought  into  intimate  contact  with  some  of 
the  most  eminent  men  of  the  country.  His  autobiography 
is  one  of  the  interesting  personal  records  of  the  period.  He 
had  scarcely  been  settled  in  Philadelphia  when  the  work  of 
reorganizing  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  the  now  inde- 
pendent United  States  was  begun.  This  work  was  con- 
temporaneous with  the  formation  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
country.  Young  as  he  was,  no  minister  of  the  Church  —  not 
even  Dr.  Witherspoon — was  more  influential  in  this  impor- 
tant and  difficult  work.  From  the  first  he  was  in  favor  of 
the  separation  of  Church  and  State,  and  strongly  advised 
those  changes  in  the  Scotch  Confession  of  Faith  which 
placed  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  this  country  specifically 
on  the  platform  of  the  widest  religious  liberty. 

He  was  a  high  Calvinist  and  a  strong  Presbyterian,  active 
in  the  Church's  judicatories  and  deeply  interested  in  the  or- 
ganization of  its  missionary  work.    He  was  elected  chaplain 


,4. 


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PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  403 

of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  in  1792,  with  Bishop 
White,  and  was  reelected  by  every  successive  Congress 
until,  in  1800,  the  Capital  was  removed  from  Philadelphia 
to  Washington.  During  his  pastorate  in  Philadelphia  he 
made  two  extended  journeys,  one  to  New  England  and  the 
other  to  Virginia,  and  was  received  in  both  sections  of  the 
country  as  a  man  of  eminence.  He  was  deeply  interested 
in  theological  education  ;  was  one  of  the  original  committee 
of  the  General  Assembly  to  organize  a  theological  semi- 
nary; and  was  the  author  of  the  plan  for  a  theological  insti- 
tution which  the  Assembly  adopted,  and  to  which  it  gave 
effect  in  the  institution  at  Princeton.  He  was  President 
of  its  Board  of  Directors  from  the  beginning  until  his  death 
in  1848;  and  when,  in  1824,  the  trustees  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  were  incorporated,  he  was  made  one  of  them,  and 
continued  a  trustee  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  At  the 
time  of  his  election  to  the  Presidency  of  Princeton  College 
he  was  the  best-known  and  probably  the  most  influential 
minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

On  October  29,  181 2,  after  having  been  a  pastor  for  more 
than  twenty-five  years,  he  left  Philadelphia  for  Princeton, 
and  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  College  Presidency. 
The  Trustees,  before  finally  adjourning,  elected  Mr.  Elijah 
Slack  Vice-President  of  the  College  and  Professor  of  Math- 
ematics and  Natural  Philosophy,  and  chose  tw^o  tutors.  Soon 
after  Mr.  Lindsley  was  elected  Professor  of  Languages. 
During  the  first  year  of  Dr.  Green's  administration  these 
gentlemen  were  the  Faculty.  The  year  was  one  of  great 
excitement  throughout  the  country.  It  was  the  year  of  the 
beginning  of  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain.  The  ex- 
citement of  the  nation  was  reflected  in  the  life  of  the  Col- 
lege. Discipline  was  difficult.  Soon  after  Dr.  Green's 
induction  disturbances  became  so  serious  as  almost  to  reach 
the  point  of  a  general  rebellion.    The  conduct  of  the  Faculty 


406  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

while  connected  with  the  College.  He  was  strongly  attached 
to  the  Church  in  which  he  was  born,  and  which  he  had 
done  so  much  to  organize  after  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Probably  he  was  at  his  best  when  addressing  a  deliberative 
body  or  acting  as  a  counsellor  upon  a  committee.  In  these 
two  positions  he  was  unexcelled ;  and  it  was  his  eminence 
and  reputation  as  a  counsellor  and  legislative  speaker  that 
led  his  successor,  Dr.  Carnahan,  to  say  at  his  burial :  "  By 
his  talents  he  was  fitted  to  fill  any  civil  situation,  and  by 
his  eloquence  to  adorn  the  halls  of  our  National  Legis- 
lature." He  died  when  eighty-five  years  of  age,  in  the 
year  1848,  at  Philadelphia,  and  was  buried  at  Princeton, 
in  the  cemetery  where  his  predecessors  were  at  rest. 


VHI.  The  Administrations  of  James  Carnahan 
AND  John  Maclean. 

After  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Green,  the  Trustees  elected 
as  President  Dr.  John  H.  Rice,  of  Richmond,  Virginia.  Dr. 
Rice  was  the  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  that 
place,  an  eloquent  and  widely  popular  preacher,  an  influen- 
tial writer  on  ecclesiastical  and  theological  subjects,  and 
deeply  interested  in  collegiate  and  theological  education. 
Owing  to  the  severe  illness  with  which  he  was  suffering  at 
the  time  of  his  election,  and  which  continued  for  several 
months,  he  was  unable  to  respond  to  the  invitation  until 
March  14,  1823.  In  a  letter  of  that  date,  he  declined  the 
position,  believing  that  he  was  called  to  labor  in  the  South ; 
and  not  long  afterwards  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  chair  of 
Systematic  Theology  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Hamp- 
den-Sidney,  Virginia.  Meanwhile,  the  Trustees  appointed 
Professor  Lindsley  to  the  Vice-Presidency,  and  put  on  him 
the  duties  of  the  higher  office  until  the   President-elect's 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  407 

arrival  in  Princeton.  Mr.  John  Maclean  was  made  teacher 
of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy.  Professor  Linds- 
ley,  Mr.  Maclean  and  two  tutors  constituted  the  Faculty, 
and  about  eighty  students  were  in  residence.  On  receiv- 
ing Dr.  Rice's  declinature,  the  Trustees  at  once  elected 
Vice-President  Lindsley  to  the  Presidency ;  but  Dr.  Linds- 
ley  declined,  probably  because  the  election  was  not  unani- 
mous. The  Board  then  chose  the  Rev.  James  Carnahan,  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  and,  at  the  time  of  his  election, 
forty-eight  years  of  age.  Through  both  father  and  mother 
he  was  descended  from  Scoto-Irish  Presbyterians  who  had 
settled  in  the  Cumberland  Valley.  His  father  had  been  an 
officer  of  the  army  of  the  Colonies  during  the  Revolutionary 
War.  Mr.  Carnahan  was  graduated  at  Princeton  in  1800 
with  high  honors.  After  a  year's  theological  study  under 
the  Rev.  Dr.  John  McMillan  of  Cannonsburg,  Pennsylvania, 
he  returned  to  Princeton  and  was  for  two  years  a  tutor  in 
the  College.  Although  earnestly  pressed  to  remain,  he  re- 
signed in  1803.  He  labored  first  as  a  pastor,  largely  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  afterwards  as  a  teacher.  For  eleven 
years  preceding  his  election  he  taught  with  great  success 
an  academy  at  Georgetown  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Throuofhout  the  communion  of  which  he  was  a  minister  he 
was  highly  esteemed  as  a  man  of  high  character,  excel- 
lent judgment  and  absolute  devotion  to  whatever  work  he 
gave  himself. 

The  condition  of  the  College  was  such  as  to  make  the 
office  of  President  anything  but  inviting.  The  students 
were  few,  the  income  was  small.  There  was  almost  no 
endowment.  Repeated  efforts  had  been  made  to  increase 
the  permanent  funds,  but  it  appeared  impossible  to  excite 
any  general  interest  in  its  welfare.  There  were  conflicting 
views  within  the  Board  of  Trustees  as  to  the  general  policy 
of  the  College,  and  the  personal  relations  between  some  of 


408  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

the  members  of  the  Board  were  severely  strained.  Happily, 
Dr.  Carnahan  was  unaware  of  the  whole  truth  when  the 
office  was  tendered  to  him.  Had  he  known  all,  he  would 
undoubtedly  have  declined.  Indeed,  so  depressed  was  he 
by  these  difficulties  that  not  long  after  his  acceptance  he 
made  up  his  mind  to  abandon  the  office ;  and  he  finally 
retained  his  place  only  because  of  the  earnest  pleadings  of 
his  young  colleague,  Professor  Maclean.  Notwithstanding 
these  exceptional  burdens  and  perplexities,  his  administra- 
tion after  a  few  years  became,  and  continued  to  be,  singu- 
larly successful.  The  number  of  students  was  largely  in- 
creased. The  curriculum  was  enriched  and  developed.  The 
Faculty  was  enlarged  by  the  foundation  of  new  chairs,  and 
by  the  election  of  professors,  some  of  whom  became  emi- 
nent in  their  respective  departments,  and  whose  memories 
are  to-day  among  the  most  highly  valued  possessions  of  the 
University.  The  Triennial  Catalogue  contains  the  names 
of  thirty  professors  who  were  elected  during  Dr.  Carnahan' s 
Presidency.  Among  them  are  several  of  the  most  distin- 
guished names  in  the  annals  of  American  science  and  letters. 
The  discipline  of  the  College,  though  lenient,  was  firmly  and 
equitably  administered,  and  the  influence  exerted  by  the 
College  on  the  students  during  their  residence  had  never 
before  been  stronger  or  more  beneficent. 

The  success  of  Dr.  Carnahan  was  due  in  part  to  his 
calm  temperament,  the  fine  balance  of  his  faculties,  his  un- 
selfish devotion  to  the  College  and  his  patience  under 
adverse  conditions,  partly  to  the  liberty  of  action  granted 
by  him  to  his  younger  colleagues  in  the  Faculty,  and  largely 
to  the  remarkable  enthusiasm,  energy  and  intelligence  of 
the  senior  professor,  John  Maclean,  who  in  1829,  when  not 
yet  thirty  years  of  age,  was  elected  Vice-President  of  the 
College.  Those  who  remember  Dr.  Maclean  only  in  his 
later  years  will  have  difficulty  in  bringing  before  them  the 


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James  Carnahan. 
1823  -  1854. 


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PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  409 

man  who  as  Vice-President  shared  with  Dr.  Carnahan  the 
duty  of  determining  the  general  poHcy  of  the  College,  and  of 
taking  the  initiative  in  the  election  of  professors  for  chairs 
already  established,  in  founding  new  chairs,  in  enlarging 
the  number  of  students,  and  in  settling  the  principles  of 
College  discipline.  He  was  a  man  of  quick  intelligence, 
able  to  turn  himself  to  almost  any  teaching  work,  always 
ready  to  change  his  work,  or  to  add  to  it,  and  always  will- 
ing to  accept  a  reduction  of  income.  He  was  especially 
vigilant  in  looking  out  for  new  and  additional  teachers ;  but 
at  all  points  he  was  alert,  and  his  one  ambition  was  the  pros- 
perity of  the  College.  Between  Dr.  Carnahan  and  Dr. 
Maclean  there  existed,  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  the 
former's  administration,  a  warm  and  intimate  friendship. 
Each  was  perfectly  frank  with  the  other.  Each  highly 
valued  the  other.  Each  finally  supplemented  the  other ; 
and  each  was  ready  to  efface  himself  or  to  work  to  the 
point  of  exhaustion  in  the  interests  of  the  institution.  It  is 
but  justice  to  the  memory  of  both  of  them  to  say,  that  the 
administration  of  Dr.  Carnahan,  especially  from  1829  until 
his  resignation  in  1854,  was  a  collegiate  administration,  in 
which  the  two  colleagues  labored  as  one  man,  the  distinctive 
gifts  of  each  making  more  valuable  those  of  the  other. 

Soon  after  Dr.  Carnahan's  election  the  College  lost  the 
services  of  Vice-President  Lindsley,  who  as  Professor  of 
Languages  had  done  much  to  give  the  College  fame.  He 
was  popular  both  in  the  College  and  beyond  it,  and  his 
popularity  was  deserved.  He  was  invited  to  many  posi- 
tions of  prominence  in  educational  institutions,  both  before 
he  resigned  and  after  he  left  the  College  in  order  to  become 
President  of  Cumberland  College  in  Tennessee.  He  was 
high-spirited  and  unduly  sensitive,  faithful  to  duty  not  only, 
but  enthusiastic,  and  as  a  teacher  "one  of  the  best,"  says 
Dr.  Maclean,  "  of  whom  I  have  any  knowledge." 


412  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

college.  It  was  soon  justified  by  a  large  increase  in  the 
number  of  students.  While  the  whole  College  had  num- 
bered up  to  this  time  less  than  loo,  in  1830  and  1831 
67  new  students  were  received.  The  next  year  there  were 
139  in  the  College,  and  the  number  rose,  speaking  roughly, 
year  after  year  until  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  which 
separated  temporarily  the  South  from  the  North.  The  most 
remarkable  increase  is  that  in  the  decade  between  1829  and 
1839.  In  1829  there  were  but  70  students,  while  in  1839 
there  were  270.  The  election  of  the  six  professors  just 
named  was  only  the  initiation  of  a  policy  that  was  faithfully 
executed  during  the  whole  of  the  administration.  Two 
years  later  the  College  secured  the  services  of  Joseph 
Henry,  whose  exceptional  greatness  as  a  man  of  science 
gave  celebrity  to  the  institution,  and  whose  transparent 
goodness  endeared  him  to  both  colleagues  and  students. 
In  1833  James  Waddel  Alexander^  was  elected  Professor 

'  James  Waddel  Alexander,  the  son  of  the  Rev.  Archibald  Alexander,  was 
born  March  13,  1804;  graduated  at  Princeton  College  1820,  and  studied  at 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  Besides  being  professor  in  the  College, 
1833-44,  he  was  professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  1848-51  ;  pastor 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  1828-30;  editor  of  the 
"  Presbyterian  "  at  an  earlier  date,  and  finally  pastor  of  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church,  New  York,  from  185  i  until  his  death  in  1859.  He  was 
a  gifted  and  cultivated  man.  He  read  widely,  reflected  deeply,  and  wrote 
charmingly  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects.  He  was  one  of  the  most  frequent 
and  highly  valued  contributors  to  the  "  Princeton  Review  "  from  its  establish- 
ment until  his  death.  His  love  of  letters  was  a  passion  only  less  command- 
ing in  its  influence  on  himself  than  his  religion.  Upon  all  his  students  and 
parishioners  a  deep  impression  was  made  by  his  ability,  cultivation,  refine- 
ment and  elevated  character.  These  traits  appear  also  in  his  letters,  as  in 
all  his  published  writings.  The  strength  and  beauty  of  his  features,  his  en- 
gaging social  qualities,  his  intellectual  life  and  his  purity  and  unselfishness 
enabled  him,  in  whatever  position,  to  exert  a  stronger  influence  on  individual 
men,  than  most  men,  in  the  circles  in  which  he  moved.  He  was  an  example 
of  the  highest  type  of  Christian  preacher  and  pastor  produced  by  the  Ameri- 
can Church. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  413 

of  Belles-lettres.  In  1834  Stephen  Alexander  was  added 
to  the  Faculty.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  the  cata- 
logue of  professors,  beginning  in  1830  with  the  name  of 
Albert  B.  Dod  and  closing  in  1854  with  Arnold  Guyot  and 
covering  the  years  of  Dr.  Carnahan's  administration,  needs 
only  to  be  examined  to  justify  the  statement  that  no  policy 
was  ever  more  brilliantly  executed  than  the  policy,  initiated 
by  Dr.  Carnahan  and  Dr.  Maclean,  of  increasing  the  chairs 
and  seeking  men  to  fill  them  without  waiting  for  an  endow- 
ment. What  a  remarkable  addition  in  point  of  numbers 
there  was  to  the  teaching  force  of  the  institution  while  Dr. 
Carnahan  was  President  will  be  seen  from  the  fact,  that  dur- 
ing the  whole  life  of  the  College  up  to  his  presidency  only 
fourteen  professors  had  been  appointed,  while  during  his 
administration  alone  there  were  thirty.  Of  course  some 
plans  were  adopted  which  failed.  As  early  as  1834  —  a  year 
in  which  other  additions  to  the  Faculty  were  made,  as  that 
of  Professor  Hart  to  the  Department  of  Languages — it  was 
seriously  attempted  to  establish  a  summer  school  of  medicine. 
The  design  was  given  up,  owing  to  the  death  of  the  Profes- 
sor of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  and  was  never  revived. 
In  1846  a  law  school  was  founded,  and  three  gentlemen 
were  elected  professors.  The  lectures  were  kept  up  with 
much  spirit  for  two  years,  but  the  school  was  then  dis- 
continued. The  position  of  the  College  was  not  favorable 
to  the  establishment  of  professional  schools  of  law  and 
medicine,  and  from  that  time  on  no  attempt  was  made  to 
establish  them. 

The  growth  of  the  College  compelled  the  authorities  to 
provide  increased  accommodations  for  the  students.  Two 
dormitories  were  erected:  East  College  in  1833  and  West 
College  in  1836,  each  four  stories  in  height;  they  were  built 
of  stone  with  brick  partitions  and  fire-proof  stairways  of 
iron,  and  the  stairs  enclosed  in  brick  walls.     Each  of  the 


414  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

dormitories  gave  accommodation  to  sixty-four  students. 
The  College  authorities  were  unable  to  gratify  their  taste 
in  their  construction ;  but  for  sixty  years  and  more  they 
have  served  their  purpose  well,  and  it  is  probable  that  no 
investment  of  the  College  has  yielded  a  larger  return.  The 
cost  of  erecting  each  was  less  than  fourteen  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  growth  of  the  College  led  also  to  increased 
activity  in  the  two  literary  societies.  Up  to  this  time  they 
had  no  homes  of  their  own.  The  meetings  were  held  in 
rooms  provided  by  the  College  in  the  building  now  known 
as  the  College  Offices.  But  in  the  winter  of  1836-37  two 
new  halls  were  built ;  the  description  of  one  will  serve  for 
both,  as  they  were  alike:  "Whig  Hall,"  says  Professor 
Cameron,  "  is  a  building  in  Ionic  style,  sixty-two  feet  long, 
forty-one  feet  wide,  and  two  stories  high.  The  columns  of 
the  hexastyle  porticos  are  copied  from  those  of  a  temple  by 
Ilissus  near  the  fountain  of  Callirrhoe,  in  Athens.  The 
splendid  temple  of  Dionysus  in  the  Ionian  City  of  Teos, 
situated  on  a  peninsula  of  Asia  Minor,  is  a  model  of  the 
building  in  other  respects." 

During  the  administration  of  Dr.  Carnahan  the  College 
gained  immensely,  not  only  by  the  separate  but  also  by  the 
associated  energies  of  the  able  men  who  formed  the  Fac- 
ulty. Their  meetings  were  frequent,  and  the  exchange  of 
ideas  led  to  a  higher  and  increased  activity  in  all  depart- 
ments :  discipline,  examinations,  lectures  and  recitations. 
The  scientific  researches  of  its  eminent  professors — for  not 
a  few  of  them  became  eminent — added  to  the  reputation  of 
the  institution  and  gave  it  a  standing  which  it  had  never 
before  enjoyed  as  an  institution  of  learning.  Indeed,  it  may 
be  said  that  in  the  sense  in  which  it  had  been  an  eminent 
home  and  nursery  of  patriotism  in  the  days  of  Witherspoon, 
it  was  now  a  great  institution  for  the  cultivation  of  the  sci- 
ences and  the  liberal  arts.     From  time  to   time,  however, 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  415 

the  College  sustained  great  losses  by  the  death  or  the  re- 
moval to  other  institutions  of  several  important  members  of 
the  Faculty.  Joseph  Addison  Alexander,  after  three  years 
of  work,  was  seized  by  the  Theological  Seminary,  where, 
until  his  death,  he  had  a  brilliant  career.  Joseph  Henry, 
after  laboring  for  sixteen  years  in  the  chair  of  Natural  Phi- 
losophy and  making  discoveries  in  the  sphere  of  science  and 
performing  inestimable  services  for  his  country,  was  called, 
in  1848,  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Albert  B.  Dod,^ 
who  was  brilliant  not  only  in  the  Chair  of  Mathematics  but 
in  the  pulpit  and  in  the  pages  of  the  "  Princeton  Review,"  died 
in  1845;  ^rid  James  W.  Alexander,  whose  cultivation  and 
fertility  as  a  writer  entitle  one  to  say  of  him  that  he  might 
have  become  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  American  men  of 
letters,  felt  it  his  duty  to  become  a  pastor,  and  resigned  in 
1844.  These  were  great  losses,  but  men  of  ability  were  at 
once  called  to  the  vacant  places,  and  the  large  work  of  the 
institution  did  not  suffer.  Dr.  Elias  Loomis,  and,  after  his 
resignation,  Professor  McCulloch,  took  the  place  of  Joseph 

'  "  In  my  student  days  there  was  a  professorial  constellation  in  the  Faculty 
that  for  brilliancy  has  rarely,  if  ever,  been  equalled  in  any  American  institu- 
tion. It  was  our  privilege  to  be  instructed  in  mathematics  by  Albert  B.  Dod, 
in  physics  by  Joseph  Henry,  in  belles-lettres  and  Latin  by  James  W.  Alexan- 
der, in  astronomy  by  Stephen  Alexander,  in  chemistry  and  botany  by  John 
Torrey.  Mr.  Maclean's  rare  talent  for  leadership  was  strikingly  exhibited  in 
the  selection  and  collection  of  such  a  group  of  educators  at  a  critical  period 
in  the  history  of  the  College.  All  but  one  of  the  group,  at  that  time  the  most 
conspicuous,  lived  to  accomplish  the  full  career  of  distinction  of  which  their 
early  professorial  life  gave  promise.  With  the  eminence  to  which  these 
attained  all  are  famihar.  Few,  however,  at  the  present  day  appreciate  how 
sore  an  intellectual  bereavement  Princeton  suffered  in  the  death  of  Albert  B. 
Dod  in  the  prime  of  his  early  manhood.  His  intellect  was  notable  for  the 
versatility  as  well  as  the  rarity  of  his  genius.  He  seemed  alike  eminent  in 
mathematics,  in  physics,  in  philosophy,  in  literature,  in  aesthetics  and  in 
theology.  Though  his  death  occurred  when  but  forty  years  of  age,  no  one 
had  contributed  more  largely  to  the  high  reputation  of  the  '  Princeton  Re- 
view '  not  only  in  this  country,  but  Great  Britain,  by  his  profound  and  schol- 


416  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Henry ;  Dr.  Hope,  a  man  of  charming  Christian  character 
as  well  as  a  wise  and  stimulating  teacher,  succeeded  Dr. 
James  Alexander;  and  Stephen  Alexander,  a  graduate  of 
Union  College,  who  became  eminent  as  an  astronomer  and 
a  man  of  eloquence,  took  the  place  of  Professor  Dod.  By 
nothing  is  the  intellectual  life  of  the  College  at  this  time 
more  clearly  shown  than  it  is  by  the  fact  that  of  the  thirty 
professors  elected  during  Dr.  Carnahan's  administration, 
about  one  half  were  its  own  graduates. 

Dr.  Carnahan  resigned  in  1854.  In  the  thirty-one  years 
of  his  administration,  sixteen  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
students  were  admitted  to  the  first  degree  of  the  arts,  the 
annual  average  being  over  fifty-four.  Of  these,  seventy- 
three  became  presidents  or  professors  in  colleges  or  other 
seminaries  of  learning,  eight  became  senators  of  the  United 
States,  twenty-six  members  of  the  National  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, four  were  members  of  the  Cabinet,  and  a  large 
number  became  eminent  in  the  liberal  professions.  The 
number  graduated  during  his   presidency  was  larger  than 

arly  articles  on  '  Analytical  Geometry,'  '  The  Vestiges  of  Creation,'  '  Transcen- 
dentalism '  including  an  exhaustive  discussion  of  Cousin's  '  Philosophy,'  '  Ox- 
ford Architecture,'  Finney's  '  Sermons  and  Lectures,'  '  The  Elder  Question,' 
which  at  the  time  agitated  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  '  Lyman  Beecher's 
Theology.'  Rarely  has  any  college  or  university  had  in  its  curriculum  a  course 
of  lectures  more  inspiring  intellectually  and  zesthetically  instructive  than  Pro- 
fessor Dod's  course  in  '  Architecture,'  covering  the  whole  field,  Egyptian, 
Grecian,  Roman,  Gothic  and  Modern.  They  were  delivered  without  manu- 
script, and  held  the  audience  in  rapt  attention  by  interesting  information, 
subtle  analysis  of  principles,  elevated  thought,  lucid  statement,  brilliant  rhet- 
oric, delivered  with  the  ease  of  a  conversational  manner,  with  frequent  passages 
thrillingly  eloquent.  The  same  intellectual  qualities  characterized  his  ser- 
mons. Those  who  remember  Professor  Dod  as  a  lecturer  and  preacher  are 
frequently  reminded  of  him  when  listening  to  the  President  of  our  University. 
Had  Professor  Dod's  life  been  spared,  as  the  lives  of  his  eminent  colleagues 
were,  to  bring  forth  fruit  even  to  old  age,  among  the  many  Princeton  men 
who  have  attained  high  distinction  his  name  would  have  been  conspicuous." 
—"MS.  of  Professor  J.  T.  Duffield." 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  417 

the  number  during  the  administrations  of  all  his  prede- 
cessors. While  he  was  in  office  the  relations  between  the 
Trustees  and  the  Faculty,  and  between  the  members  of  the 
Faculty,  were  singularly  harmonious.  The  students  enjoyed 
a  larger  measure  of  freedom  than  during  any  earlier  admin- 
istration. And  when  students  were  disciplined,  their  wel- 
fare had  quite  as  much  influence  in  determining  the  chastise- 
ment as  the  welfare  of  the  institution. 

In  his  letter  of  resignation  Dr.  Carnahan  paid  a  high 
tribute  to  his  colleague,  Vice-President  Maclean.  After  the 
remark,  that  Dr.  Maclean  was  the  only  officer  living  of  those 
connected  with  the  College  when  his  presidency  began,  Dr. 
Carnahan  said:  "To  his  activity,  energy,  zeal  and  devotion 
to  the  interests  of  the  institution,  I  must  be  permitted  to 
give  my  unqualified  testimony.  We  have  passed  through 
many  trying  times  together.  In  time  of  need  he  was 
always  at  his  post  without  shrinking.  He  was  always  ready 
to  meet  opposition  in  the  discharge  of  what  he  thought  to 
be  his  duty."  Dr.  Carnahan  lived  six  years  after  his  resig- 
nation. He  was  chosen  a  trustee  of  the  College,  and  his 
successor  says  of  him:  "In  every  respect  he  was  a  helper 
to  his  successor,  and  gave  him  his  cordial  support  both  in 
the  Board  and  without."  He  died  on  March  3,  1859,  and 
was  buried  at  Princeton,  by  the  side  of  his  immediate  pre- 
decessor. Dr.  Ashbel  Green. 

It  was  ordered  that  in  December,  1853,  at  the  stated  semi- 
annual meeting,  the  Board  should  elect  a  President  of  the 
College.  Three  gentlemen  were  named  for  the  position, 
two  of  them  without  their  consent.  One  was  Joseph  Henry, 
Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  who  positively  de- 
clined to  be  a  candidate.  Another  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  David 
Magie,  of  Elizabeth,  New  Jersey,  a  graduate  of  the  College, 
an  eminent  preacher  and  pastor,  and  one  of  the  Trustees, 
who,  notwithstanding  his  earnest  advocacy  of  Dr.  Maclean's 


418  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

election,  received  several  votes.  The  third  was  Dr.  John 
Maclean,  Vice-President  of  the  College.  Dr.  Maclean  was 
elected.  He  took  the  oath  of  office  and  delivered  his  in- 
augural address  at  the  commencement  of  1854.  His  ad- 
dress was  partly  historical,  and  partly  an  exposition  of  the 
policy  to  be  pursued  during  his  administration.  The  new 
President  was  a  native  of  Princeton,  and  was  born  March 
3,  1800.  He  was  the  son  of  the  College's  first  Professor  of 
Chemistry.  He  was  graduated  in  the  class  of  18 16,  and  was 
its  youngest  member.  For  a  year  after  his  graduation  he 
taupfht  in  the  classical  school  at  Lawrenceville.  In  1818 
he  became  a  tutor,  and  from  that  date  until  his  resignation 
as  President  in  1868  he  was  a  member  of  the  Faculty.  His 
whole  active  life  was  thus  given  to  the  College.  He  in- 
terested himself  only  in  such  objects  as  were  in  harmony 
with  the  interests  of  the  College.  He  taught  at  various 
times  Mathematics,  Natural  Philosophy,  Latin,  Greek,  and 
the  Evidences  of  Christianity.  He  acquired  knowledge 
with  great  ease,  and  his  wide  intellectual  sympathies  are 
shown  in  the  chairs  he  filled.  In  his  younger  life  he  was 
an  able  and  stimulating  teacher ;  but  the  burden  of  adminis- 
tration was  laid  upon  him  soon  after  he  became  a  teacher, 
and  the  exceptional  executive  ability  shown  by  him  led  his 
colleagues  to  believe  that  it  was  his  duty  to  subordinate 
his  scholarly  ambition  to  the  welfare  of  the  College.  Dr. 
Maclean  acquiesced,  and  in  this  way  he  was  prevented 
from  becoming  eminent  in  any  branch  of  study.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  up  to  his  presidency  Princeton  had 
enjoyed  the  services  of  no  chief  executive  officer  who  so 
completely  sank  his  own  personality  in  the  institution  he 
served.  As  has  already  been  said,  his  untiring  energies 
and  his  sagacious  judgment  of  men  and  measures  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  success  of  the  administration  of  Dr. 
Carnahan  ;  and  it  was  confidently  expected  that  his  own  ad- 


• 


it  I 


be 

00- 

Dr. 


John  Maclean. 
1854.-  1868. 


rtJ-M-M".  VfMIMinrt    MM—IM—Mll'I^M*  M^ 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  419 

ministration  would  at  its  close  show  an  advance  as  great  as 
that  made  between  the  death  of  Dr.  Green  and  his  own  acces- 
sion. In  one  important  respect  this  expectation  was  not  dis- 
appointed. It  must  be  remembered,  to  the  lasting  honor 
of  most  of  the  institutions  of  higher  education  in  America, 
that  up  to  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  they  accomplished 
their  great  work  for  the  Church  and  State  with  almost  no 
endowments.  This  is  true  of  both  Princeton  and  Yale. 
Speaking  only  of  Princeton,  after  having  been  in  exis- 
tence one  hundred  and  seven  years,  and  after  having 
made  the  noble  record  shown  by  the  General  Catalogue 
and  the  statistics  which  have  been  given  in  this  sketch, 
the  treasury  contained  only  fifteen  thousand  dollars  of 
endowment.  It  is  almost  incredible  that  all,  except  this 
amount,  which  had  been  received  by  the  treasury  was  of 
necessity  expended  for  the  purchase  of  lands  and  the  erection 
of  buildings  and  the  maintenance,  year  after  year,  of  the 
work  of  the  College.  Besides  maintaining  the  College 
and  largely  increasing  the  number  of  its  students,  Dr. 
Maclean,  aided  by  his  colleagues,  and  especially  by  Dr. 
Matthew  B.  Hope  and  Dr.  Lyman  H.  Atwater,  endeav- 
ored successfully  during  his  administration  to  provide  the 
College  with  some  permanent  funds.  All  efforts  up  to  this 
time  to  secure  an  endowment  had  failed,  and  efforts  had 
repeatedly  been  made, —  three  times  during  the  previous 
administration,  in  1825,  1830,  and  1835.  "The  aggregate 
of  gifts  to  the  College,"  says  Dr.  Duffield,  "  during  Dr. 
Maclean's  administration  was  about  four  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars."  This  aggregate  is  probably  a  larger 
amount  than  the  College  had  received  in  gifts  from  its 
foundation  to  the  beginning  of  Dr.  Maclean's  administra- 
tion. The  accessions  to  the  College  were  greatly  increased. 
The  last  year  of  Dr.  Carnahan's  administration  the  number 
catalogued  was  two  hundred  and  forty-seven  ;  seven  years 


422  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

of  the  College  forced  him  to  give  instruction  in  so  many 
departments  that  it  would  have  been  a  marvel  if  he  had 
found  additional  time  to  prove  his  genius  in  any.  But  so 
strong  and  facile  was  his  mental  energy,  that  it  developed 
a  notable  degree  of  talent  for  almost  every  subject  that  in- 
terested him.  He  was  able  to  hold  the  different  chairs 
in  Princeton,  not  through  mere  partiality,  for  it  is  now 
known  —  what  his  modesty  at  the  time  concealed  —  that  he 
received  overtures  from  other  colleges  to  fill  similar  pro- 
fessorships with  them.  Dr.  Matthew  B.  Hope,  than  whom 
Princeton  never  had  a  shrewder  judge  of  men,  used  to  say 
that  had  Maclean  given  himself  to  any  particular  study  in 
science,  philosophy,  or  language,  he  would  easily  have 
attained  celebrity  in  it.  If  we  doubt  this,  we  may  find  a 
reason  for  the  failure  of  Dr.  Maclean  to  become  a  master  in 
speciality,  not  in  the  lack  of  special  ability,  but  rather  in 
the  possession  of  certain  other  intellectual  impulses,  which 
made  his  thoughts  overflow  any  single  channel."  ^ 

But  if  he  failed  to  attain  eminence  in  any  single  direction. 
Dr.  Maclean  was  eminently  gifted  as  a  counsellor.  He 
grasped  seriously  the  elements  of  any  situation  in  which  the 
College  was  placed,  and  was  as  able  as  most  men  to  discern 
the  policy  which  it  demanded.  He  knew  men  well.  He 
not  only  seldom  made  mistakes,  but  was  extraordinarily 
successful  in  the  selection  or  nomination  of  colleagues. 
His  accurate  estimate  of  men  was  shown  in  his  estimate 
of  himself  Probably  no  man  ever  connected  with  Prince- 
ton College  took  his  own  measure  more  exactly,  or  so 
thoroughly  knew  his  own  limitations.  This  knowledge  of 
himself  was  due  not  more  to  his  ability  than  to  the  simplicity 
and  sincerity  of  his  character.  This  sincerity,  with  the 
magnanimity  and  the  charity  that  were  blended  with  it, 
was  recognized  by  those  associated  with  him  in  the  Board 

'  Memorial  Address  by  James  M.  Ludlow,  D.  D. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  423 

of  Trustees  and  Faculty  of  Instruction,  and  by  his  students 
and  the  people  of  the  town  in  which  he  passed  his  life.. 
"  My  immediate  predecessor,"  says  Dr.  McCosh,  "  was 
John  Maclean,  the  well-beloved,  who  watched  over  young 
men  so  carefully,  and  never  rebuked  a  student  without 
making  him  a  friend."  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  called  him 
the  most  loved  man  in  America;  and  Dr.  Ludlow  gave 
apt  expression  to  the  feeling  of  all  his  students,  touching 
his  personal  interest  in  them,  in  the  remark:  "St.  Hilde- 
garde  used  to  say,  '  I  put  my  soul  within  your  soul.'  Dr. 
Maclean  put  his  soul  within  the  soul  of  the  young  man,  if 
ever  a  man  did.  He  felt  for  us,  he  felt  as  he  felt  himself  in 
us."  It  was  the  conviction  of  Dr.  Maclean's  sympathy 
with  the  life  of  each  of  his  students,  his  readiness  to  sacri- 
fice himself  for  their  interests,  that  gave  him  in  his  old 
age  and  retirement  the  love  and  honor  of  troops  of  friends 
that  blessed  his  latest  years.  In  the  narrower  and  retired 
life  he  lived  after  his  resignation  he  was  as  active  as  a 
philanthropist,  though  within  a  restricted  field,  as  he  ever 
had  been.  As  he  had  lived  beloved  by  all,  he  died  lamented 
by  all,  August  lo,  1886. 


IX.    The   Administration    of   James    McCosh.      The 

Beginning  of  the  Administration  of 

Francis  Landey  Patton. 

The  resignation  of  Dr.  Maclean  having  been  accepted,  to 
take  effect  at  the  commencement  of  1868,  the  Trustees 
elected,  as  his  successor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Henry 
Green,  Professor  of  Oriental  and  Old  Testament  Literature 
in  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  Professor  Green, 
though  a  graduate  of  Lafayette  College,  belonged  to  a 
family  which  had  been  associated  with  Princeton  College 


424  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

from  its  foundation.  He  was  a  descendant  of  Jonathan 
Dickinson,  the  first  President  of  the  College  and  of  Caleb 
Smith,  its  first  tutor;  and  among  its  distinguished  graduates 
and  benefactors  were  some  of  his  near  relatives.  For 
many  years  he  had  given  himself  exclusively  to  Oriental 
and  Old  Testament  studies ;  but  in  his  younger  life  had 
shown  fine  gifts  as  a  teacher  in  other  departments,  and 
had  been  the  pastor  of  a  prominent  church  in  Philadelphia. 
It  was  felt  not  only  that  his  acceptance  would  strengthen 
the  hold  of  the  College  on  the  Church  which  had  in  the 
main  supported  it,  and  bring  to  it  new  friends  and  enlarged 
endowment,  but  that  Dr.  Green's  scholarship  and  character 
would  greatly  benefit  the  scholarship,  the  discipline  and  the 
general  life  of  the  institution.  The  Trustees  received  his 
declinature  with  great  regret ;  but  the  news  of  it  was  heard 
at  the  Theological  Seminary  with  the  greatest  pleasure. 

Except  that  of  Dr.  Green,  no  name  invited  the  Trustees 
until  it  was  proposed  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  James  McCosh, 
Professor  of  Logic  and  Philosophy  in  Queen's  College, 
Belfast,  Ireland,  be  invited  to  take  the  vacant  chair.  Dr. 
McCosh  visited  America  in  1866,  and  his  addresses  deep- 
ened the  impression  which  his  apologetic  and  philosophical 
discussions  had  made  on  the  American  public.  He  was  re- 
ceived and  heard  everywhere  as  a  thinker  and  writer  of  de- 
served eminence.  The  writer  of  this  sketch  well  remem- 
bers the  large  audience  which  gathered  in  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church  one  evening  during  this  visit,  to  listen 
to  his  defense  of  the  Gospels  against  the  attack  made  upon 
them  in  Kenan's  "Life  of  Jesus";  and  how  fully  he  sus- 
tained the  reputation  which  had  preceded  him.  His  views 
in  philosophy  were  those  which  had  been  taught  and  de- 
fended at  Princeton  College ;  and  his  Scottish  nationality 
and  his  residence  in  Ulster  were  an  additional  recommenda- 
tion to  the  College  of  John  Witherspoon  and  to  the  Church 


Id 


tKBS 

SBpS 


1 


-^ 


James  McCosh. 
1868-  1888. 


f 


r 


i 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  425 

of  Francis  Makemie.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  he  had  taken 
the  side  of  the  Free  Church  at  the  disruption,  and  had 
shown  himself  as  ready  as  any  of  his  brethren  to  make  sac- 
rifices in  the  cause  of  the  autonomy  of  Christian  con- 
gregations, led  the  friends  of  the  College  to  believe  that  he 
would  be  at  home  in  a  republic.  The  divided  Presbyterian 
Church  was  about  to  reunite ;  and  it  was  felt  that  it  was 
fortunate  that  Dr.  McCosh  had  no  memories  of  the  theo- 
logical and  ecclesiastical  battles  which  culminated  in  the  di- 
vision. For  these  reasons,  his  acceptance  was  received  with 
great  pleasure,  and  with  confidence  that  the  College  would 
prosper  and  be  enlarged  during  his  administration.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Stearns  of  Newark,  a  trustee  of  the  College,  was 
Moderator  of  the  New  School  Presbyterian  General  As- 
sembly in  1868.  While  the  Assembly  was  sitting  he  learned 
of  Dr.  McCosh's  acceptance.  The  writer  happened  to  be 
standing  by  when  he  told  the  news  to  the  late  Dr.  Henry 
Boynton  Smith.  Dr.  Smith  said,  "  It  was  a  wise  choice.  He 
is  a  man  of  great  ability.  He  may  easily  prove  as  great  a 
gift  to  the  Church  and  State  as  John  Witherspoon."  While 
his  acceptance  awakened  high  hopes,  no  one  anticipated  his 
great  and  brilliant  administration.  Looking  back  upon  it, 
now  that  it  has  been  closed,  it  must  be  regarded  as  the 
most  successful  and  in  some  respects  the  greatest  adminis- 
tration the  College  has  enjoyed.  Undoubtedly,  Dr.  McCosh 
was  fortunate  in  the  time  of  his  presidency,  and  in  his  col- 
leagues. But  greatness  consists  largely  in  seizing  the  op- 
portunities which  time  offers  ;  and  not  a  few  of  his  colleagues 
were  his  own  students,  who  owed  much  of  their  inspiration 
to  his  teachings  and  example. 

His  administration  is  too  recent  to  make  appropriate  an 
estimate  of  it,  like  that  which  has  been  given  of  each  of  the 
earlier  administrations.  He  is  the  last  of  the  Presidents 
who  have  completed  their  work.     Such  an  estimate  can  be 


428  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

by  Others  who  knew  him  well,  will  for  this  volume  be  the 
best  history  of  his  administration. 

"  Rarely,"  writes  Professor  West,  "  has  academic  history 
repeated  itself  with  such  precision  and  emphasis  as  in  the 
person  of  President  James  McCosh,^  who,  though  unique 

discriminating  conservatism  was  ever  held  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the 
modern  scientific  spirit,  and  his  steadfast  adherence  to  the  principles  of  evan- 
gelical religion  never  narrowed  his  Christian  sympathies.  A  leader  in  great 
international  Alliances  and  Councils  of  the  Churches,  he  also  consistently 
welcomed  students  of  every  religious  denomination  to  their  chartered  privileges 
within  our  walls.    The  representatives  of  all  creeds  mingled  in  his  funeral. 

"  While  a  commanding  figure  has  passed  from  public  view,  there  remains 
among  us,  who  were  his  nearer  associates,  the  charm  of  a  unique  personality 
and  rare  Christian  character,  to  be  henceforth  enshrined  in  our  memories 
with  reverence  and  affection. 

"  To  his  bereaved  family  we  can  only  tender  our  deepest  sympathy,  pray- 
ing that  they  may  receive  those  divine  consolations  which  he  himself  taught 
during  his  life  and  illustrated  in  peaceful  death." 

'  The  information  used  for  this  notice  comes  from  many  sources,  princi- 
pally from  members  of  Dr.  McCosh's  family,  his  pupils  and  friends  in 
Great  Britain  and  America,  his  own  writings,  and  many  scattered  publications 
about  him.  This  information  has  been  used  freely,  perhaps  even  to  the  point 
of  adopting  some  statements  of  fact  and  turns  of  expression  without  acknow- 
ledgment. Of  the  newspaper  obituaries  the  best  for  his  life  in  Scotland  is 
to  be  found  in  "The  Scotsman  "  of  Edinburgh,  under  date  of  November  19, 
1894  (an  account  drawn  largely  from  the  volume  on  "  Disruption  Worthies," 
published  in  Edinburgh  and  London,  1 881),  the  best  for  his  Belfast  life  is  in 
"The  Northern  Whig "  of  Belfast,  November  19,  1894  (based  mainly  upon 
information  given  by  Mr.  Thomas  Sinclair  of  Belfast),  and  the  best  for  his 
Princeton  life  appeared  in  the  "New  York  Tribune "  November  17,  1894. 
Interesting  incidents  of  his  relations  to  the  students  are  in  the  "  New  York 
Herald"  of  November  18,  1894.  A  good  undergraduate  estimate  is  to  be 
found  in  the  "  Nassau  Literary  Magazine  "  for  December,  1894,  and  another 
in  the  number  for  June,  1888.  There  is  a  sketch  by  the  present  writer 
in  the  "  New  York  Observer  "  of  November  22,  1894,  and  a  briefer  one  in  the 
"  Educational  Review  "  for  November,  1894.  An  article  by  Professor  Ormond 
appears  in  the  "Educational  Review"  for  February,  1895.  Professor  Sloane 
has  edited  Dr.  McCosh's  autobiography,  and  has  given  the  one  full  and  satis- 
factory account  we  have.  It  is  entitled  "  The  Life  of  James  McCosh,"  and 
is  published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York. —  A.  F.  West. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  429 

in  his  own  generation,  had  a  real  prototype  in  the  person 
of  one,  though  only  one,  of  his  predecessors,  President 
John  Witherspoon,  the  ruler  of  Princeton  a  century  ago. 
Each  of  them  was  in  point  of  ancestry  a  Covenanter,  by 
birth  a  Lowland  Scotchman,  in  his  youth  a  student  at  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  in  his  young  manhood  a  minister 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland  at  a  crisis  in  its  history,  and  in 
that  crisis  an  important  figure, —  Witherspoon  heading  the 
opposition  to  moderatism  and  Dr.  McCosh  helping  to  form 
the  Free  Church.  When  already  past  the  meridian  of  life 
each  of  them  came  to  America  to  do  his  greatest  work  as 
President  of  Princeton,  the  one  arriving  in  1768  and  the 
other  in  1868.  Though  of  different  degrees  of  eminence  in 
different  particulars,  they  were  nevertheless  of  fundamen- 
tally the  same  character,  being  philosophers  of  reality,  min- 
isters of  evangelical  and  yet  catholic  spirit,  constructive 
and  aggressive  in  temper,  stimulating  as  teachers,  stout 
upholders  of  disciplinary  education,  men  of  marked  per- 
sonal independence,  of  wide  interest  in  public  affairs  and 
thoroughly  patriotic  as  Americans.  The  principles  of  col- 
lege government  on  which  Witherspoon  acted  Dr.  McCosh 
expressly  avowed.  '  These  principles,'  he  wrote,  '  were 
full  of  wisdom,  tact  and  kindness.  Without  knowing  them 
till  afterward,  I  have  endeavored  to  act  on  the  same  prin- 
ciples, but  more  imperfectly.  Govern,  said  he,  govern 
always,  but  beware  of  governing  too  much.'^  Their 
presidencies  were  long  and  successful.  Each  lived  the  last 
twenty-six  years  of  his  life  in  Princeton,  and  it  may  be 
noticed  as  a  striking  final  coincidence  that  they  passed 
away  a  century  apart,  almost  to  the  day, —  Witherspoon 
dying  November  15,  1794,  and  Dr.  McCosh  on  November 
16,  1894. 

"James  McCosh  was  born  April    i,  1811,  at  Carskeoch 
Farm,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  '  bonnie  Doon,'  just  above 

'  "John  Witherspoon  and  his  Times,"  Philadelphia,  1890. 


430  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

the   village   of  Patna,  some   twelve   miles   from   Ayr,  the 
county  town  of  Ayrshire.     In  this  region,  so  full  of  inspir- 
ing   Scottish    memories,   his    boyhood    was    spent,   and,  in 
common  with  so  many  of  his  countrymen  who  have  risen 
to   fame,  he    received   his   first  education    in    the   parochial 
school.     In   1824,  when  but  thirteen  years  old,  he  entered 
the  University  of  Glasgow,  an  institution  already  famous  in 
the   annals  of  the  Scottish  philosophy  for  the  teaching  of 
Reid  and  Hutcheson, —  a  fit  place  for  the  young  student  to 
begin,  who  was  later  to  write  the  history  of  the   Scottish 
School.      Here  he  remained  five  years.     In  1829  he  entered 
the  University  of  Edinburgh,  coming  under  the  influence 
of  Thomas  Chalmers  and  David  Welsh  in  theology,  and  of 
Sir  William  Hamilton  in  philosophy.      He  had  also  some 
strong  intellectual  compeers   among  the   students  of  that 
time.     Such,  for  example,  was  Tait,  afterward  Archbishop 
of    Canterbury.     Incidents   of    Dr.    McCosh's    youth    and 
student  days  formed  the  basis  of  many  an  interesting  anec- 
dote in  his  later  years.     Of  such  were  his  remembrances  as 
a  boy  of  the  recurring  anniversaries  when  his  elders  used 
to  pledge  with  enthusiasm  '  the  memory  of  Bobbie  Burns.' 
At  other  times   he  would  dwell  with  fondness  on  one  or 
another  loved  feature  of  the  home  scenery  of  Ayrshire  or 
the    talk    of  its    people.     The    competition    for    intellectual 
honors  at  the  University  formed  another  theme.     Then,  too, 
the  strong  impress  of  Sir  William  Hamilton's  personality 
as  well   as   of  his  teaching  was  one  of  those  things   that 
delighted  his  Princeton  pupils  to  notice,  especially  as  seen 
in  the  way  he  treasured  some  remark  of  his  great  teacher. 
'  Do  you  know  the  greatest  thing  he  ever  said  to  me  ? '  Dr. 
McCosh    asked  one   day  of  the  writer.     '  It  was  this :    So 
reason  as  to  have  but  one  step  between  your  premise  and 
its  conclusion.'     The  syllogism  unified  and  turned  into  a 
rule  of  conduct!     Well  might  such  a  vigorous  maxim  take 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  431 

the  imperative  form.  And  how  vividly  real  it  made  the  act 
of  reasoning  seem !  It  was  toward  the  close  of  his  student 
days  at  Edinburgh  that  Dr.  McCosh  wrote  his  essay  en- 
titled '  The  Stoic  Philosophy,'  in  recognition  of  which  the 
University,  upon  motion  of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

"  In  1835  he  was  licensed  as  a  minister  of  the  Established 
Church  of  Scotland.  Toward  the  close  of  the  same  year  he 
was  elected,  by  the  members  of  the  congregation,  minister  of 
the  Abbey  church  of  Arbroath,  the  '  Fairport '  of  Sir  Wal- 
ter Scott's  '  Antiquary,'  a  flourishing  town  in  Forfarshire,  on 
the  eastern  coast,  sixteen  miles  north  of  Dundee.  While  in 
this  parish  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Guthrie,  eight  years  his  senior,  the  minister  of  the  neigh- 
boring parish  of  Arbilot,  and  afterwards  so  celebrated  in  the 
Old  Greyfriars  pulpit  in  Edinburgh.  They  were  helpful  to 
each  other  in  their  pastoral  work  and  counsel,  and  formed 
the  nucleus  of  a  group  of  ministers  who  met  to  discuss 
with  earnestness  the  impending  dangers  to  the  Church 
consequent  upon  'intrusion'  of  ministers  by  the  Crown 
upon  congregations,  irrespective  of  the  preference  of  the 
people.  They  promptly  identified  themselves  with  the  view 
that  this  subjection  of  the  Church  to  the  Crown  was  to  be 
brought  to  an  end,  advocating,  as  Dr.  McCosh  had  already 
done  in  his  Edinburgh  student  days,  what  was  known  as 
Non-Intrusion.  In  1838,  on  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Welsh, 
his  former  teacher,  Dr.  McCosh  was  appointed  by  the 
Crown  to  the  first  charge  of  the  church  at  Brechin,  a  short 
distance  from  Arbroath.  Brechin  was  an  attractive  old 
cathedral  town  with  a  large  outlying  country  parish.  In 
this  arduous  charge  he  labored  most  assiduously  in  com- 
pany with  his  colleague,  the  Rev.  A.  L.  R.  Foote.  Besides 
attending  to  his  stated  church  ministrations  and  the  regu- 
lar  visiting   of  its   congregation,  he  went   abroad   every- 


432  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

where,  preaching  the  Gospel  in  barns,  kitchens  and  taverns, 
or  in  the  open  fields  and  wherever  else  he  could  do  good.^ 
His  communion  roll  gradually  swelled  until  it  included  four- 
teen hundred  persons.  Meanwhile  the  ecclesiastical  sky  was 
darkening.  The  disruption  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  was 
impending,  and  when,  in  1843,  it  had  become  inevitable.  Dr. 
McCosh,  in  common  with  hundreds  of  other  ministers,  sur- 
rendered his  living.  He  at  once  proceeded  to  organize  in 
his  old  parish  a  congregation  of  the  Free  Church,  into 
which  over  eight  hundred  of  his  former  parishioners  fol- 
lowed him.  He  also  rendered  great  service  at  this  crisis 
by  organizing  new  congregations,  providing  them  with 
preachers,  raising  money  and  getting  sites  for  the  erection 
of  new  churches.  'A  good  horseman,'  says  one  of  his 
best  newspaper  biographies,'  '  he  rode  long  distances  from 
place  to  place  and  preached  in  barns,  ball-rooms  or  fields,  as 
was  found  necessary.'  In  1843  ^^^  the  following  year  he 
was  a  member  of  one  of  the  deputations  appointed  by  the 
General  Assembly  to  visit  various  parts  of  England  and 
arouse  Non-conformist  interest  in  the  position  of  the  Free 
Church.  In  1845  he  was  married  at  Brechin  to  Miss  Isa- 
bella Guthrie,  daughter  of  the  physician  James  Guthrie,  and 
niece  of  Thomas  Guthrie,  his  friend  in  his  early  ministry  at 
Arbroath. 

"In  this  round  of  active  life,  with  all  its  details  and  distrac- 
tions, he  kept  alive  his  philosophical  thinking,  and  in  1850 
published,  at  Edinburgh,  his  '  Method  of  the  Divine  Govern- 
ment, Physical  and  Moral.' ^    It  was  most  favorably  reviewed 

'  "  Disruption  Worthies.  A  Memorial  of  1843."  Edinburgh  and  London, 
1 88 1.  The  sketch  of  Dr.  McCosh,  written  by  Professor  George  Macloskie,  is 
found  on  pp.  343-348. 

■"The  Scotsman,"  Edinburgh,  November  19,  1894. 

'  "  No  sooner  did  McCosh's  heavy  though  pleasant  labors  in  founding  con- 
gregations of  the  Free  Church  relax  a  little,  than  he  began  the  composition 
of  'The  Method  of  the  Divine  Government,  Physical  and  Moral.'     During 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  433 

by  Hugh  Miller  and  commended  by  Sir  William  Hamilton. 
It  brought  him  at  once  into  prominence  as  a  philosophic 
writer  of  force  and  clearness/  The  story  goes  that  Earl 
Clarendon,  then  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  sitting  down 

the  period  of  writing  the  author  received  much  encouragement  from  his 
intimate  college  friend,  William  Hanna.  It  was  he,  likewise,  who  aided  in 
the  work  incidental  to  publication.  The  author  showed  his  book  in  manu- 
script to  Dr.  Cunningham  and  Dr.  James  Buchanan.  Both  approved,  and 
the  latter  suggested  some  changes  which  were  adopted.  The  volume  was 
published  in  1850,  and  through  Dr.  Guthrie  copies  were  sent  to  the  two 
Scotchmen  then  most  eminent  in  the  world  of  abstract  thought.  Sir  William 
Hamilton  and  Hugh  Miller.  The  former  announced  his  decision  at  once : 
'  It  is  refreshing  to  read  a  work  so  distinguished  for  originality  and  sound- 
ness of  thinking,  especially  as  coming  from  an  author  of  our  own  country.' 
Hugh  Miller  said  in  the  '  Witness  '  that  the  work  was  of  the  '  compact  and 
thought-eliciting  complexion  which  men  do  not  willingly  let  die.'  The  first 
edition  was  exhausted  in  six  months.  An  American  edition  was  pub- 
lished very  soon  afterward,  and  that,  too,  sold  rapidly.  The  book  passed 
through  twenty  editions  in  less  than  forty  years,  and  still  has  a  sale  in  both 
Great  Britian  and  America.  Time,  therefore,  may  be  said  to  have  passed  its 
judgment  upon  the  '  Divine  Government.'  " —  Professor  W.  M.  Sloane,  "Life 
of  McCosh." 

'  Some  of  Dr.  Mc Cosh's  Services  to  Philosophy. —  The  real  importance  of 
Dr.  McCosh's  work  in  philosophy  was  to  a  great  extent  obscured  during  his 
life  by  a  certain  lack  of  appreciation  of  which  he  occasionally  complained. 
"They  won't  give  me  a  hearing,"  he  would  say  somewhat  mournfully.  And 
then  he  would  cheer  up  under  the  assuring  conviction  that  Realism,  as  it  was 
the  first,  would  also  be  the  final,  philosophy.  Dr.  McCosh's  position  in 
philosophy  suffered  during  his  life  from  a  kind  of  reaction  against  the  Scottish 
school,  which  had  set  in  with  Mill's  destructive  criticism  of  Hamilton.  It 
was  also  materially  affected  by  the  strong  movement  in  the  direction  of 
evolutionary  empiricism  of  which  Herbert  Spencer  was  the  exponent  and 
leader.  The  dogmatic  and  positive  tone  of  Dr.  McCosh  himself  had  doubt- 
less something  to  do  with  the  tendency  to  undervalue  his  work. 

There  are  other  circumstances  which  must  not  be  overlooked  in  estimating 
the  value  of  Dr.  McCosh's  philosophy.  It  scarcely  ever  happens  that  a  man 
is  the  best  judge  of  his  own  work,  or  that  the  things  on  which  he  puts  the 
greatest  stress  possess  the  most  permanent  value.  Much  of  Dr.  McCosh's 
work  is  of  a  transitional  character.  His  whole  attitude  toward  evolution,  for 
example,  is  that  of  a  transitional  thinker  who,  although  hospitable  to  the  new. 


434  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

to  read  a  copy  one  Sunday  morning,  became  so  absorbed 
in  the  book  that  he  missed  going  to  church,  and  read  on 
till  evening  without  stopping,  and  soon  after  offered  Dr. 
McCosh  the  chair  of  Logic  and  Metaphysics  in  the  newly 

maintains,  on  the  whole,  the  old  points  of  view.  Dr.  McCosh,  it  may  be  said 
briefly,  accepted  evolution  provisionally,  but  he  could  scarcely  be  called  an 
evolution  thinker.  Again,  it  is  true  of  Dr.  McCosh,  as  of  most  other  men, 
that  the  principle  and  content  of  his  work  must  be  distinguished  from  the 
form  in  which  he  embodied  it.  Generally  it  is  a  failure  to  distinguish  the 
principle  from  the  accidental  form  that  constitutes  one  of  the  greatest  limita- 
tions of  any  thinker.  This  is  certainly  true  of  Dr.  McCosh.  The  essence  of 
all  his  doctrines  was  so  associated  in  his  mind  with  a  certain  mode  of  con- 
ceiving and  stating  them  as  to  make  the  form  seem  essential  to  the  doctrine. 
An  example  of  this  is  his  theory  of  Natural  Realism  in  the  sphere  of  per- 
ception, in  which  a  certain  mode  of  apprehending  the  object  was  deemed 
essential  to  the  assertion  of  reality  itself 

Leaving  out  of  view,  however,  accidental  features  and  elements  of  a  merely 
transitional  character,  it  seems  to  me  that  Dr.  McCosh  has  contributed  several 
elements  of  distinct  value  to  the  thinking  of  his  time.  One  of  these  is  to  be 
found  in  his  treatment  of  the  Intuitions.  At  the  time  Dr.  McCosh  first 
became  interested  in  the  problems  of  speculation,  Intuitionism  had  suffered  a 
kind  of  eclipse  in  the  writings  of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  whose  attempt  to 
combine  Scottish  Epistemology  with  Kantian  Metaphysics  had  resulted  in  a 
purely  negative  theory  of  such  intuitive  principles,  for  example,  as  causality. 
Dr.  McCosh  harked  back  to  Reid  and  reasserted  the  pure  Scottish  position 
against  the  unnatural  hybrid  of  the  Hamiltonian  metaphysics.  But  he  is  not 
to  be  regarded  as  simply  a  reasserter  of  Reid.  His  wide  acquaintance  with 
the  history  of  philosophy,  as  well  as  his  keener  faculty  of  criticism,  led  to  a 
more  careful  and  discriminating  analysis  of  the  intuitive  principles  of  the 
mind  as  well  as  to  a  more  philosophical  statement  of  them.  He  also  con- 
nected them  with  the  three  epistemological  functions  of  cognition,  judgment 
and  belief,  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  them  into  closer  relations  with  experience, 
and,  by  recognizing  a  distinction  between  their  cognitive  and  rational  forms, 
to  admit  the  agency  of  an  empirical  process  in  their  passage  from  the  singular 
to  the  more  general  stage  of  their  apprehension.  Of  course,  where  the  reality 
of  intuitive  principles  is  denied.  Dr.  McCosh's  interpretation  of  them  will  not 
be  appreciated.  But  inasmuch  as  the  affirmation  of  native  elements  in  some 
form  is  likely  to  continue,  the  contribution  of  Dr.  McCosh  to  Intuitional 
thinking  is  likely  to  be  one  of  permanent  value.  The  one  point  on  which  Dr. 
McCosh  was  most  strenuous  was  that  of  Realism.      He  had  a  kind  of  pJtobia 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  435 

founded  Queen's  College  in  Belfast.  Dr.  McCosh  accepted 
the  offer,  removing  to  Belfast  in  1852,  and  continuing  there 
until  he  came  to  Princeton.  His  class-room  was  notable  in 
many    ways, — for    his    brilliant    lecturing,    his    interesting 

of  all  idealistic  or  phenomenal  theories.  This  rendered  him  somewhat  unduly 
impatient  of  these  theories,  and  they  sometimes  receive  scant  justice  at  his 
hands.  But  whatever  his  failings  as  a  critic,  there  was  no  ambiguity  about 
his  own  point  of  view.  He  was  the  doughtiest  kind  of  a  realist,  ready  at  all 
times  to  break  a  lance  in  defence  of  his  belief  Here,  as  elsewhere,  in  esti- 
mating the  value  of  Dr.  McCosh's  work,  it  is  necessary  to  observe  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  principle  and  the  form  of  his  doctrine.  Perhaps  few 
thinkers  at  present  would  accept  the  unmodified  form  of  his  realism.  But 
the  positions  he  had  most  at  heart,  namely,  that  philosophy  must  start  with 
reality  if  it  would  end  with  it,  and  that  philosophy  misses  its  aim  if  it  misses 
reality  and  stops  in  the  negations  of  Positivism  or  Kantism, —  these  are  positions 
which  a  very  wide  school  of  thinkers  have  very  much  at  heart.  Dr.  McCosh's 
realism  is  a  tonic  which  invigorates  the  spirit  that  comes  into  contact  with  it, 
and  indisposes  it  to  any  sort  of  indolent  acquiescence  in  a  negative  creed. 

In  harking  back  to  Reid,  Dr.  McCosh  was  recognizing  intellectual  kinship 
in  more  ways  than  one.  The  spirit  of  Reid,  while  pretty  positive  and  dog- 
matic, was  also  inductive  and  observational.  Reid  hated  speculation,  and 
would  not  employ  it  except  at  the  behest  of  practical  needs.  Dr.  McCosh 
was  a  man  of  kindred  spirit.  His  distrust  of  speculation  amounted  at  times, 
I  think,  to  a  positive  weakness.  But  his  shrewd  common  sense,  combined 
with  a  genius  for  observation  and  an  intense  love  of  fact,  constituted  perhaps 
the  most  marked  quality  of  his  mind.  It  has  kept  his  work  fresh  and  inter- 
esting, packed  his  books  with  new  and  interesting  facts  and  shrewd  observa- 
tions, and  has  made  them  rich  treasure-houses  for  those  who  come  after  him. 
This  is  especially  true  in  his  psychological  work.  Here,  where,  on  account 
of  the  rapid  advance  of  Psychology  in  both  method  and  content,  the  results 
of  his  generation  of  workers  are  fast  becoming  inadequate  to  the  new  demands, 
it  ought  not  to  be  forgotten  that  Dr.  McCosh  was  almost  the  pioneer  of  a 
new  departure  in  Psychology  in  this  country ;  that  his  was  the  most  potent 
voice  in  the  advocacy  of  that  marriage  of  the  old  science  of  introspection 
with  Physiology,  out  of  which  the  new  Physiological  Psychology  arose ;  that 
his  example  was  most  potent  in  advocating  the  substitution  of  an  observa- 
tional for  a  closet  Psychology ;  and  that  while  he  contributed  little  to  experi- 
mental results,  the  influence  of  his  spirit  and  teaching  was  strongly  favorable 
to  them. 

Perhaps  in  the  end  it  will  be  seen  that  Dr.  McCosh  rendered  his  most  last- 


436  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

method  of  questioning,  his  soHcitude  for  his  students  and 
their  enthusiasm  for  him.  Besides  fulfilhng  his  regular 
duties,  he  served  as  an  examiner  for  the  Queen's  University 

ing  service  in  the  sphere  of  religious  thought.  In  view  of  the  tendency  in 
many  quarters  to  divorce  Philosophy  from  Rehgion  and  insist  that  philosophy 
has  no  legitimate  interest  in  the  problems  of  religion,  the  attitude  of  Dr. 
McCosh  is  reassuring.  That  the  problems  of  religion  are  the  supreme  and 
final  questions  in  philosophy,  and  that  no  philosophy  is  adequate  that  is 
unable  to  find  some  rational  justification,  at  least,  for  a  Theistic  view  of  the 

world, these  were  points  on  which  he  insisted  as  cardinal.      Dr.  McCosh  was 

a  profound  thinker  who  saw  clearly  the  necessity  of  a  metaphysical  ground- 
work of  both  Morals  and  Religion.  His  own  Theistic  conviction  was  at  all 
times  firm  and  unclouded.  But  aside  from  the  form  of  his  own  individual 
beliefs,  his  insistence  on  the  questions  of  God's  existence  and  man's  relation 
to  Him  as  the  vitalest  issues  of  philosophy,  contains  an  important  lesson  for 
the  time. 

In  this  connection,  also,  his  relation  to  the  Evolution  theory  is  noteworthy. 
It  was  in  the  religious  aspect  of  this  theory,  and  especially  its  bearing  on 
Theism,  that  he  was  most  vitally  interested.  He  early  saw  that  a  Theistic 
conception  of  development  was  possible,  and  this  prevented  him  from  adopt- 
ing the  view  of  its  extreme  opponents,  and  condemning  it  as  necessarily 
atheistic  and  irreligious.  He  maintained  the  possibility  of  conceiving  evolu- 
tion from  a  Theistic  basis  as  a  feature  of  the  Method  of  Divine  Government, 
and  this  led  him  to  take  a  hospitable  attitude  toward  the  evolution  idea,  while 
at  the  same  time  it  enabled  him  to  become  the  most  formidable  critic  of 
evolution  in  its  really  atheistic  and  irreligious  forms.  This  treatment  of  the 
problem  of  evolution  by  a  religious  thinker  possesses  more  than  a  transitional 
value.  It  correctly  embodies,  I  think,  the  wisest  and  most  philosophical 
attitude  which  a  religious  mind  can  take  toward  the  advances  of  science  dur- 
ing that  period  of  uncertainty  which  ordinarily  precedes  the  final  adjustment 
of  the  new  into  the  framework  of  established  truth. 

On  the  question  of  Dr.  McCosh's  originality,  I  think  this  may  be  said  : 
While  it  is  true  that  he  has  added  no  distinctively  new  idea  to  philosophy, 
yet  his  work  possesses  originality  in  that  it  not  only  responded  to  the  demands 
of  the  time,  but  also  bears  the  stamp  of  the  author's  striking  and  powerful 
individuality.  The  form  of  Dr.  McCosh's  discussions  is  always  fresh,  char- 
acteristic and  original.  He  was  an  original  worker,  in  that  his  work  bore  the 
stamp  of  his  time  and  personality,  and  constituted  part  and  parcel  of  the 
living  energy  of  his  generation. —  Prof.  A.  T.  Ormond,  "Princeton  College 
Bulletin,"  January,  1896. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  437 

of  Ireland,  as  a  member  of  the  distinguished  Board  of  Ex- 
aminers who  organized  the  first  competitive  examinations 
for  the  civil  service  of  India,  and  as  an  examiner  for  the 
Furgusson  Scholarships,  open  to  graduates  of  Scottish 
Universities/  In  1858  he  visited  the  principal  schools  and 
universities  of  Prussia,  carefully  acquainting  himself  with 
their  organization  and  methods,  and  publishing  his  opinions 
regarding  them  in  1859.  ^^  was  at  Belfast  he  brought  out 
his  "Examination  of  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill's  Philosophy,  Typical 
Forms  and  Special  Ends  in  Creation  "  (in  conjunction  with 
Professor  George  Dickie), "The  Intuitions  of  the  Mind,"^  and 
"  The  Supernatural  in  Relation  to  the  Natural."  In  his  church 
relations  he  was  both  an  active  promoter  of  evangelical 
piety,  and  an  efficient  helper  in  ecclesiastical  counsels.  He 
helped  to  organize  the  Ministerial  Support  Fund  of  the  Irish 
Presbyterian  Church,  seeking  to  evoke  liberality  and  self- 

^  "  The  Northern  Whig,"  Belfast,  November  19,  1894. 

" "  The  positive  characterization  of  modern  Princeton  must  begin  with  a 
description  of  its  dominant  mode  of  tliinking,  wliicli  is  tlie  philosophical. 
This  is  one  of  our  many  inheritances  from  Dr.  McCosh.  So  habituated  to 
this  habit  of  mind  is  the  Princeton  teacher,  that  he  hardly  realizes  the  strength 
of  this  prevailing  tendency.  A  Harvard  man  is  apt  to  measure  things  by 
literary  standards,  and  a  Harvard  graduate  who  comes  as  an  instructor  to 
Princeton  is  apt  to  be  surprised  to  find  how  pervasive  and  all  but  universal 
is  this  philosophical  temper  here.  It  is  this  cast  or  mould  of  thinking,  rather 
than  strict  uniformity  in  philosophical  beliefs,  which  is  the  most  striking 
feature  of  the  University's  intellectual  life.  Traditionally  Princeton  is  com- 
mitted to  a  realistic  metaphysics  as  opposed  to  agnosticism,  materialism  or 
idealism.  The  far-reaching  importance  of  the  last  is,  indeed,  admitted  ;  but 
the  maturer  judgment  of  Princeton's  philosophers  inclines  to  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  'a  refractory  element'  in  experience,  which,  while  'without 
form  and  void,'  unless  enmeshed  in  the  categories  of  Reason,  refuses  'wholly 
to  merge  its  being  in  a  network  of  relations.'  They  prefer,  therefore,  to 
admit  the  existence  of  an  impasse  to  a  complete  intellectual  unification  of  the 
universe,  than  to  purchase  metaphysical  unity  at  the  cost  of  surrendering  the 
judgments  of  common  sense,  and  at  the  risk  of  discovering  that  the  hoped-for 
treasure  is  but  dross  at  the  last." — Prof.  W.  M.  Daniels,  "The  Critic,"  Oct. 
24,  1896. 


438  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

support  in  view  of  the  coming  disendowment.  In  the  face 
of  much  opposition,  he  advocated  giving  up  the  Reginm 
Domiin.  Arguments  he  used  in  this  discussion  were  after- 
wards influential  with  Mr.  Gladstone  in  connection  with  the 
disestablishment  of  the  Church  of  Ireland/  He  advocated 
a  system  of  intermediate  schools  to  prepare  for  higher  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  and  particularly  labored  for  the  great 
cause  of  a  general  system  of  national  elementary  schools. 
His  own  pupils  attained  marked  success  in  the  examinations 
for  the  civil  service,  and  some  of  them  became  very  emi- 
nent,—  one  of  them  being  Sir  Robert  Hart,  the  present 
Chief  of  the  Chinese  Customs  Service.  He  was  not  a  man 
who  could  be  hid,  and  so  there  is  little  to  wonder  at  in  the 
distinction  he  earned,  whether  evidenced  by  the  respect  of 
men  like  Chalmers,  Guthrie,  Hugh  Miller,  Sir  William 
Hamilton,  Dean  Mansel,  the  present  Duke  of  Argyll  and 
Mr.  Gladstone,  the  kindly  humor  of  Thackeray  or  the  flings 
of  Ruskin  and  sharp  rejoinders  of  John  Stuart  Mill. 

"Dr.  McCosh  paid  his  first  visit  to  America  in  1866,  re- 
ceiving a  hearty  welcome.  In  June,  1868,  he  was  called  to 
the  presidency  of  Princeton.  He  accepted  the  call  after  due 
deliberation,  and  arrived  at  Princeton  on  October  22  of  the 
same  year.  The  story  of  the  low  condition  of  Princeton  at 
that  time,  consequent  upon  the  Civil  War,  does  not  need  to 

'  "  The  ecclesiastical  condition  of  Ireland  was  at  that  time  anomalous  ;  the 
rich  Episcopalian  minority  being  sustained  as  an  Established  Church ;  a  sop 
thrown  to  the  Presbyterian  middle-class  minority  in  the  shape  of  a  Regiiim 
Donum,  or  partial  endowment,  which  helped  them  to  acquiesce  in  the  wrong 
done  to  the  Roman  Catholic  majority,  who  were  poor  and  left  out  in  the  cold. 
When  the  right  time  arrived  Dr.  McCosh  lectured  and  wrote  in  favor  of  Dis- 
establishment and  Disendowment,  and  argued  from  his  experience  in  Scot- 
land for  the  inauguration  of  a  Sustentation  Fund  by  the  Irish  Presbyterians. 
This  was  the  opening  of  a  struggle  which  ended  in  the  carrying  out  of  all  his 
views,  greatly  to  the  furtherance  of  religion,  as  the  people  of  Ireland  now 
confess."  —  Professor  Geo.  Macloskie,  in  Sloane's  "Life  of  McCosh,"  pp. 
120,  121. 


PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  439 

be  told  here.  So  far  as  equipment  and  numbers  can  speak, 
the  tale  is  soon  told.  Excepting  a  few  professors'  houses, 
there  are  now  on  the  campus  only  four  buildings  which  were 
owned  by  the  College  when  Dr.  McCosh  arrived.  They 
are  Nassau  Hall,  the  old  President's  (now  the  Dean's) 
house,  the  College  Offices  and  West  College.  There  were 
but  sixteen  instructors  in  the  Faculty,  and  about  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  students. 

"The  institution  was  depleted,  salaries  were  low,  and 
academic  standards  had  suffered  both  in  the  way  of  scholar- 
ship and  discipline.  It  had  been  a  discouraging  time  in 
Princeton's  history,  and  the  self-denial  of  President  Maclean 
and  the  band  of  professors  who  went  with  the  College 
through  the  war  has  been  only  too  slightly  appreciated. 
The  writer  entered  Princeton  as  a  freshman  in  January, 
1870,  when  the  beginnings  of  Dr.  McCosh's  power  were 
being  manifested.  His  influence  was  like  an  electric  shock, 
instantaneous,  paralyzing  to  opposition,  and  stimulating  to 
all  who  were  not  paralyzed.  Old  student  disorders  were 
taken  in  hand  and  throttled  after  a  hard  struggle,  out-door 
sports  and  gymnastics  were  developed  as  aids  to  academic 
order,  strong  professors  were  added,  the  course  of  study  was 
both  deepened  and  widened,  the  ever-present  energy  of  Dr. 
McCosh  was  daily  in  evidence,  and  great  gifts  were  coming 
in.  Every  one  felt  the  new  life.  When  the  Bonner- Mar- 
quand  Gymnasium  was  opened,  in  1870,  the  student  cheer- 
ing was  enough  to  rend  the  roof  It  was  more  than 
cheering  for  the  new  gymnasium, —  it  was  for  the  new  era. 

"  It  is  not  possible  in  this  sketch  to  tell  the  story  of  the 
twenty  years  from  1868  to  1888,  but  the  results  may  be  in- 
dicated.^     The  campus  was  enlarged  and  converted  into  a 

'  "  A  member  of  the  first  class  that  entered  Princeton  under  the  Presi- 
dency of  Dr.  McCosh,  I  am  called  here  to  speak  not  for  myself  alone,  but  in 
the  name  of  two  thousand  old  pupils  who  would  pay  the  tribute  of  honor  and 


440  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

splendid  park,  every  detail  of  convenience  and  beauty  being 
consulted  in  the  transformation.^  The  old  walks  were  re- 
placed  with   something  substantial,    grading  and   planting 

love  to  the  memory  of  our  grand  old  man.  We  loved  him  because  he  loved 
Princeton.  He  was  born  in  Scotland,  but  he  was  born  an  American  and 
Princetonian.  If  you  could  have  opened  his  heart,  you  would  have  found 
'Princeton'  written  there.  He  was  firmly  convinced  that  this  college,  with 
its  history,  its  traditions,  and  its  Christian  faith,  was  predestinated  to  become 
one  of  the  great  American  universities.  '  It  is  the  will  of  God,'  he  said,  '  and 
I  will  do  it.'  A  noble  man,  with  a  noble  purpose,  makes  noble  friends. 
Enthusiasm  is  contagious.  Dr.  McCosh  laid  the  foundation  of  Princeton 
University  broad,  and  deep,  and  strong ;  and  he  left  behind  him  a  heritage 
of  enthusiasm,  a  Princeton  spirit  which  will  complete  his  work  and  never 
suffer  it  to  fail.  We  love  him  because  he  loved  truth,  and  welcomed  it  from 
whatever  quarter  of  the  wide  heaven  it  might  come.  He  had  great  confidence 
in  God  as  the  source  of  truth  and  the  eternal  defender  of  His  true  word.  He 
did  not  conceive  that  anything  would  be  discovered  which  God  had  not  made. 
He  did  not  suppose  that  anything  would  be  evolved  which  God  had  not 
intended  from  the  beginning.  The  value  of  his  philosophy  of  common  sense 
was  very  great.  But  he  taught  his  students  something  far  more  precious  — 
to  love  reality  in  religion  as  in  science,  to  respect  all  honest  work,  and  to 
reverence  every  fact  of  nature  and  consciousness  as  a  veritable  revelation 
from  Almighty  God." — The  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  van  Dyke:  Address  at  Dr. 
McCosh's  burial. 

'  "  I  remember,"  said  Dr.  McCosh,  "  the  first  view  which  I  got  of  the 
pleasant  height  on  which  the  College  stands,  the  highest  ground  between  the 
two  great  cities  of  the  Union,  looking  down  on  a  rich  country,  covered  with 
wheat  and  corn,  with  apples  and  peaches,  resembling  the  south  of  England  as 
much  as  one  country  can  be  like  another.  Now  we  see  that  height  covered 
with  buildings,  not  inferior  to  those  of  any  other  college  in  America.  I  have 
had  great  pleasure  in  my  hours  of  relaxation  in  laying  out — always  assisted 
by  the  late  Rev.  W.  Harris,  the  treasurer  of  the  College  —  the  grounds  and 
walks,  and  locating  the  buildings.  I  have  laid  them  out  somewhat  on  the 
model  of  the  demesnes  of  English  noblemen.  I  have  always  been  healthiest 
when  so  employed.  I  remember  the  days,  sunshiny  or  cloudy,  in  April  and 
November,  on  which  I  cut  down  dozens  of  deformed  trees  and  shrubs,  and 
planted  large  numbers  of  new  ones  which  will  live  when  I  am  dead.  I  do  not 
believe  that  I  will  be  allowed  to  come  back  from  the  other  world  to  this  ;  but 
if  this  were  permitted,  I  might  be  allured  to  visit  these  scenes  so  dear  to 
me,  and  to  see  the  tribes  on  a  morning  go  up  to  the  house  of  God  in  com- 
panies."—  "Life  of  Dr.  McCosh,"  pp.  195,  196. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  441 

were  carried  out  on  an  extensive  scale,  the  drainage  was  re- 
modelled, and  many  other  such  things,  which  seem  small 
separately,  but  mean  so  much  collectively,  were  attended 
to.  The  following  buildings  were  added :  The  Halsted 
Observatory  in  1869,  the  Gymnasium  in  1869-70,  Reunion 
Hall  and  Dickinson  Hall  in  1870,  the  Chancellor  Green 
Library  and  the  John  C.  Green  School  of  Science  in  1873, 
University  Hall  in  1876,  Witherspoon  Hall  in  1877,  the 
Observatory  of  Instruction  in  1878,  Murray  Hall  in  1879, 
Edwards  Hall  in  1880,  the  Marquand  Chapel  in  1881,  the 
Biological  Laboratory  in  1887,  and  the  Art  Museum  about 
the  same  time.  The  administrative  side  of  the  College  was 
invigorated  in  many  ways,  a  dean  being  added  to  the 
executive  officering  in  1883.  The  Faculty  was  gradually 
built  up  by  importation  of  professors  from  other  institutions, 
and  afterward  by  training  Princeton  men  as  well.  Twenty- 
four  of  Dr.  McCosh's  pupils  are  now  in  the  Faculty. 
The  course  of  study  was  revised  and  made  modern,  with- 
out giving  up  the  historic  essentials  of  liberal  education. 
Elective  studies  were  introduced  and  developed,  and  the 
relating  of  the  elective  to  the  prescribed  studies  in  one  har- 
monious system  was  always  kept  in  view.  To  the  old  aca- 
demic course  of  four  years,  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor 
of  Arts,  courses  leading  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science 
and  Civil  Engineer  were  added,  and  graduate  courses  lead- 
ing to  the  university  degrees  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  and 
Doctor  of  Science  were  organized.^      The  entrance  require- 

'"  Indeed,  the  traditional  university  constitution  —  a  semi-monastic  life, 
fixed  terms  of  college  residence,  adherence  to  old  academic  custom,  and  a 
hierarchy  of  degrees  —  is  found  nowhere  in  more  vigor  than  at  Princeton. 
The  true  future  of  Princeton  lies  not  in  the  development  of  professional 
schools,  nor  in  the  pursuit  of  utilitarian  studies,  but  in  both  the  college  and 
the  graduate  department  is  inseparably  bound  up  with  the  cause  of  pure 
academic  culture  and  learning." — Prof.  W.  M.  Daniels,  "The  Critic,"  October 
24,  i8g6. 


442  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

ments  were  improved  in  quality  and  were  exacted  with  more 
firmness.  The  interior  relations  of  the  various  departments 
of  study  to  each  other  and  to  the  general  culture  of  the  stu- 
dent were  gradually  better  adjusted,  and  beginnings  of 
specialized  study  founded  on  general  culture  were  instituted. 
The  use  of  the  library  was  made  of  importance  as  a  help 
to  the  student's  regular  class  work.  The  two  literary  so- 
cieties, Whig  and  CHo,  were  relieved  of  the  distress  under 
which  they  had  suffered  from  secret  societies  by  exterminat- 
ing these  societies,  and  helped  in  their  friendly  rivalry  by 
the  establishment  of  additional  college  honors  open  to  their 
competition.  Old  class-room  and  chapel  disorders  slowly 
gave  way  before  better  buildings  and  improved  instruction. 
Useful  auxiliaries  to  the  curriculum  were  encouraged,  and, 
in  particular,  the  President's  '  Library  Meeting '  was  started. 
Here,  month  after  month,  the  upper  classmen  met  in  large 
numbers  to  hear  some  paper  by  Dr.  McCosh,  some  pro- 
fessor from  Princeton  or  elsewhere,  some  bright  alumnus 
or  scholar  unattached  to  a  university.  Distinguished 
strangers  got  into  the  habit  of  coming  to  see  the  College, 
and  such  visits  as  those  of  General  Grant  and  other  Ameri- 
can dignitaries,  and  of  the  German  professors  Dorner  and 
Christlieb,  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  of  Froude  and  of  Matthew 
Arnold,  were  greatly  enjoyed.  And  so,  by  slowly  working 
agencies,  a  change  in  the  way  of  growth,  now  rapid  and 
now  apparently  checked,  was  taking  place.  The  impover- 
ished small  College  was  being  renovated,  uplifted  and  ex- 
panded.    It  was  put  on  its  way  toward  a  university  life.-^ 

'"  I  think  it  proper  to  state,"  wrote  Dr.  McCosh,  "that  I  meant  all  along 
that  these  new  and  varied  studies,  with  their  groupings  and  combinations, 
should  lead  to  the  formation  of  a  Siiidiutn  Generate,  which  was  supposed  in 
the  Middle  Ages  to  constitute  a  university.  At  one  time  I  cherished  a  hope 
that  I  might  be  honored  to  introduce  such  a  measure.      From  my  intimate 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  443 

Its  Faculty  and  students  increased  until  in  1888  the  sixteen 
instructors  had  become  a  body  of  forty-three,  and  the  stu- 
dents were  over  six  hundred.  Yet  this  gratifying  increase 
is  not  the  great  thing.  It  might  have  come  and  amounted 
to  little  more  than  a  diffusion  of  weakness.  But  it  was  quali- 
tative as  well  as  quantitative,  for  the  College  was  steadily 
producing  a  body  of  better  and  better  trained  men,  and  a 
body  of  men  having  an  intense  esprit  dii  corps  of  great 
value  for  the  future  solidarity  of  Princeton.  For  Dr.  Mc- 
Cosh  not  only  left  his  indelible  mark  upon  them  singly,  but 
fused  their  youthful  enthusiasms  into  one  mastering  passion 
for  Princeton  as  a  coming  university,  democratic  in  its  stu- 
dent life,  moved  by  the  ideas  of  discipline  and  duty,  unified 
in  its  intellectual  culture,  open  to  new  knowledge,  and  Chris- 
tian to  the  core. 

"His  relations  with  the  students  were  intimate  and  based 
on  his  fixed  conviction  that  upon  them  ultimately  rested  the 
fate  of  Princeton.  This  conviction  meant  more  than  that  he 
saw  in  young  men  the  coming  men.  '  A  college  depends,' 
he  once  said,  '  not  on  its  president  or  trustees  or  profes- 
sors, but  on  the  character  of  the  students  and  the  homes 
they  come  from.  If  these  change,  nothing  can  stop  the 
college  changing.'     To  his  eyes  the  movement  that  deter- 

acquaintance  with  the  system  of  Princeton  and  other  colleges,  I  was  so  vain  as 
to  think  that  out  of  our  available  materials  I  could  have  constructed  a  uni- 
versity of  a  high  order.  I  would  have  embraced  in  it  all  that  is  good  in  our 
college  ;  in  particular,  I  would  have  seen  that  it  was  pervaded  with  religion, 
as  the  college  is.  I  was  sure  that  such  a  step  would  have  been  followed  by 
a  large  outflow  of  liberality  on  the  part  of  the  pubHc,  such  as  we  enjoyed  in 
the  early  days  of  my  presidency.  We  had  had  the  former  rain,  and  I  hoped 
we  might  have  the  latter  rain,  and  we  could  have  given  the  institution  a  wider 
range  of  usefulness  in  the  introduction  of  new  branches  and  the  extension 
of  post-graduate  studies.  But  this  privilege  has  been  denied  me." — "  Life  of 
McCosh,"  pp.  213,  214. 


444  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION 

mined  everything  was  the  movement  from  below  upward 
and  outward,  and  the  business  of  president,  trustees  and 
professors  was  to  make  this  mass  of  raw  material  into  the 
best  product  possible ;  but,  first  of  all,  the  material  must  be 
sound  if  there  is  to  be  success  in  the  product.  The  phi- 
losopher of  elemental  reality  ^  was  never  more  true  to  his 
principles  than  just  here.  Given,  however,  a  body  of 
students  of  sound  stock,  he  felt  sure  the  desired  results  in 
their  discipline  and  culture  were  obtainable  by  intelligent 
and  patient  treatment.  First  of  all,  as  the  negative  condi- 
tion of  success,  he  insisted  that  idleness  must  be  done  away 
with  or  no  progress  would  be  possible.  '  If  they  are  idle 
you  can  do  nothing  with  them,'  was  one  of  his  axioms, — 
nothing  to  prevent  the  positive  vices  to  which  idleness 
gives  occasion,  and  nothing  to  develop  the  mind  by  whole- 
some exercise.  Next  on  his  programme  came  an  orderly 
and  regular  course  of  study  to  be  pursued  by  the  student 
without  faltering.  Then  in  order  to  bind  all  the  student's  life 
into  one  and  place  him  in  the  right  direction,  he  depended 
upon  the  sense  of  moral  responsibility,  quickened  and  ener- 

'"The  last  address  by  Dr.  McCosh  in  this  chapel  was  a  memorable  one. 
It  was  given  several  years  ago,  on  a  Sunday  evening,  in  the  simple  religious 
service  held  here  in  the  close  of  the  day.  He  had  been  asked  repeatedly 
once  more  to  preach  in  the  pulpit,  from  which  he  had  so  often  spoken,  but 
had  declined  from  a  fear  that  he  might  not  be  able  to  endure  the  strain. 
This  simple  and  less  exhausting  service  he  readily  undertook. 

"  On  the  occasion  to  which  I  refer  he  read,  with  a  touching  emphasis,  St. 
Paul's  13th  Chapter  of  First  Corinthians,  that  wonderful  chapter  in  Vihich  the 
apostle  discourses  on  Charity.  Having  ended  the  reading,  he  gave  a  brief 
analysis  of  its  points,  remarking  on  the  great  climax  of  the  last  verse  :  '  And 
now  abideth  Faith,  Hope  and  Charity,  but  the  greatest  of  these  is  Charity.' 
Then  he  announced  his  purpose  of  saying  a  few  words  on  the  first  clause  of 
the  9th  verse,  and  read  it  slowly,  and  those  who  heard  it  will  not  forget  the 
scene  as  he  said,  '  For  we  know  in  part,'  instantly  adding,  with  an  almost 
triumphant  tone,  '  But  we  know.  " — Dr.  James  O.  Murray :  Address  at  the 
Funeral. 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION  445 

gized  by  Christian  truth/      It  was  a  simple  programme, 
and  great  as  it  was  simple.- 

"His  capacity  for  detail  was  marvellous,  and  hence  he  could 

'  "  I  should  sadly  fail  in  doing  any  justice  to  the  memory  of  Dr.  McCosh 
did  I  not  lay  a  special  emphasis  on  the  Christian  element  in  his  administration. 
Amid  all  his  high  ambitions  and  large  plans  and  unsparing  labors  for  the 
College,  he  never  forgot,  and  his  Faculty  was  never  allowed  to  forget,  that  it 
should  maintain  the  character  and  do  the  work  of  a  Christian  college.  He 
believed  profoundly  that  education  must  have  a  Christian  basis.  He  was 
loyal  to  all  the  traditions  of  the  past,  and  he  sought  to  administer  the  office 
he  held  in  the  spirit  of  its  noble  charter.  It  was  under  his  guidance  that  the 
practice  of  administering  the  Holy  Communion  at  the  beginning  and  close  of 
the  college  year  was  instituted.  Is  was  to  him  a  source  of  the  truest  joy 
when  this  beautiful  chapel  was  reared  by  the  generosity  of  its  donor.  He 
wrote  the  graceful  inscription  on  yonder  tablet.  In  private  and  in  public,  in 
active  cooperation  with  the  Christian  Society  of  the  College,  in  many  a  con- 
fidential talk  with  his  students  on  the  great  themes  of  religion,  he  sought 
always  to  develop  the  Christian  element  in  college  life.  I  do  not  think  he 
favored  the  idea  of  a  College  Church.  In  fact,  though  a  Presbyterian  by  deep 
conviction,  he  avoided  anything  which  would  divert  attention  from  his  own  aim 
to  make  the  College  Christian  rather  than  denominational.  The  catholicity 
of  his  spirit  here  was  full  and  large.  The  legacy  of  devotion  to  the  Christian 
element  in  college  life  he  has  left  us  is  indeed  a  sacred  and  abiding  one." — 
Dr.  James  O.  Murray:  Address  at  the  Funeral. 

-  "  What  a  figure  he  has  been  in  Princeton's  history  !  I  need  not  describe 
him.  You  can  never  forget  him,  You  see  him  —  tall,  majestic;  his  fine 
head  resting  on  stooping  shoulders ;  his  classic  face ;  with  a  voice  like  a 
trumpet;  magisterial;  with  no  mock  humility;  expecting  the  full  deference 
that  was  due  his  office,  his  years  and  his  work.  Here  is  the  fruit  of  his  life : 
the  books  he  has  written ;  the  college  that  he  has  built ;  the  alumni  all  over 
the  land  who  are  his  grateful  pupils. 

"Through  a  quarter  of  a  century  and  more  he  lived  among  us  —  a  stalwart 
man,  with  an  iron  will :  no  mimosa  he,  sensitive,  shrinking  and  shrivelling  at 
the  touch  of  criticism ;  but  a  sturdy  oak  that  storms  might  wrestle  with  but 
only  heaven's  lightning  could  hurt.  Loyal  to  conscience  —  deep  in  convic- 
tion—  tender  of  heart  —  living  in  communion  with  God,  and  loving  the 
Word  of  God  as  he  loved  no  other  book  —  he  was  the  President  who  woke 
the  admiration,  and  touched  the  hearts,  and  kindled  the  enthusiasm  of 
Princeton  men.  No  wonder  they  were  proud  of  him  !  " — President  Patton's 
Memorial  Sermon. 


446  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

meet  special  individual  needs  as  well  as  plan  on  the  general 
scale.  It  seems  as  though  his  sanity  of  judgment  and  con- 
stant endeavor  to  develop  normal  character  was  the  very 
thing  that  enabled  him  to  recognize  the  kind  and  extent  of 
departure  from  the  normal  standard  in  any  student  at  any 
stage  of  development.  Once  he  met  a  rather  pompous  un- 
dergraduate who  announced  with  some  impressiveness  that 
he  could  no  longer  stay  in  the  church  of  his  fathers,  as  he 
needed  something  more  satisfying,  and  that  he  felt  it  proper 
to  acquaint  Dr.  McCosh  with  the  great  fact.  The  sole  reply 
was,  'You  '11  do  no  such  thing.'  And  so  it  turned  out.  In 
answer  to  a  cautiously  worded  long  question  put  by  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Faculty  in  order  to  discover  whether  some  one 
charged  with  a  certain  duty  had  actually  performed  it,  the 
answer  came  like  a  shot,  'He  did.'  No  more!  How 
short  he  could  be !  To  an  instructor  in  philosophy  whom 
he  wished  to  impress  with  the  reality  of  the  external  world 
as  against  the  teachings  of  idealism,  he  said,  with  a  sweep  of 
his  hand  toward  the  horizon,  '  It  is  there,  it  is  there !  You 
know  it !  Teach  it ! '  Then,  too,  he  was  shrewd.  In  the  case 
of  a  student  who  pleaded  innocence,  though  his  delinquency 
was  apparent  to  the  doctor,  who  nevertheless  wanted  to  be 
easy  with  him,  the  verdict  was,  '  I  accept  your  statement. 
You  '11  not  do  so  again.'  On  one  occasion  a  visiting  cler- 
gyman conducting  evening  chapel  service  made  an  elabo- 
rate prayer,  including  in  his  petitions  all  the  officers  of  the 
College,  arranged  in  order,  from  President  to  trustees,  pro- 
fessors and  tutors.  There  was  great  applause  at  the  last 
item.  At  the  Faculty  meeting  immediately  after  the  service, 
the  doctor,  in  commenting  upon  the  disorder,  aptly  remarked: 
'  He  should  have  had  more  sense  than  to  pray  for  the 
tutors.'  His  consciousness  of  mastery  was  so  naive  that 
he  cared  little  for  surface  disorder  in  the  class-room,  so  far 
as  his  confidence  in  being  able  to  meet  it  was  involved,  but 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  447 

cared  a  great  deal  if  he  found  himself  at  a  dead  point  in  the 
course  over  which  he  felt  he  must  carry  the  class.^  Here 
the  dullards,  the  apathetic,  the  drones,  the  light-witted  and 
especially  the  provokers  of  disorder  came  in  for  a  castigation 
of  the  most  interesting  kind.  '  Sit  down,  sir,'  sometimes 
served  both  to  suppress  a  tumult  and  at  the  same  time 
waken  a  mind  that  had  never  been  awake  before.  He 
could  talk  to  men  with  a  severity  and  tone  of  command  few 
would  dare  employ.  Though  the  most  indifferent  could 
not  fail  to  see  he  was  terribly  in  earnest  at  times,  they  also 
saw  his  hearty  and  deep  affection  for  them.  '  A  man  of 
granite  with  the  heart  of  a  child '  is  an  undergraduate's 
estimate  of  the  old  doctor.^ 

'  "  Dr.  McCosh  was  preeminently  a  teacher.  His  place  with  Wayland,  and 
Mark  Hopkins,  and  Woolsey  among  the  great  College  Presidents  of  America 
is  due  in  no  small  degree  to  the  fact  that,  like  them,  he  was  a  teacher.  I 
know  that  I  speak  the  sentiments  of  some  who  hold  a  position  similar  to 
mine  in  otiier  institutions,  when  I  say  that  the  increase  of  executive  duties 
that  draws  the  President  from  the  class-room  is  a  misfortune.  It  would  have 
been  an  irreparable  loss,  to  be  made  up  by  no  amount  of  efficiency  and  suc- 
cess in  other  directions,  for  Dr.  McCosh  to  have  withdrawn  from  the  position 
of  a  teacher  while  he  was  able  to  teach.  For  he  was  a  superb  teacher.  He 
knew  what  he  believed  and  why  he  believed  it,  and  he  taught  it  with  a  moral 
earnestness  that  enforced  attention.  .  .  .  There  are  teachers  who  handle  a 
great  subject  in  a  great  way,  with  no  lack  of  sympathy  or  humor,  and  a  large 
knowledge  of  human  nature ;  who  win  your  confidence,  and  stimulate  your 
ambition ;  who  make  you  eager  to  read ;  and  who  send  you  out  of  the  lec- 
ture-room with  your  heart  divided  between  your  admiration  of  the  man  and 
your  interest  in  his  theme.  Dr.  McCosh  was  a  teacher  of  this  kind.  No 
mere  closet-philosopher  was  he  ;  no  cold-blooded  overseer ;  but  a  teaching 
member  of  the  Faculty  in  which  he  sat ;  a  man  of  heart  as  well  as  brain ;  who 
could  feel  as  well  as  think;  and  who  could  be  both  hot  and  tender." — Presi- 
dent Patton's  Memorial  Sermon. 

- "  In  matters  of  administration  Dr.  McCosh,  without  being  in  any  sense 
autocratic,  managed  to  exercise  a  good  deal  of  authority.  For  there  is  no 
nice  provision  of  checks  and  balances  in  the  government  of  a  college.  The 
three  estates  of  Trustees,  Faculty  and  Undergraduates  constitute  an  organ- 
ism that  furnishes  a  fine  opportunity  for  experiments  in  political  theories. 


448  PRINCETON    SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

"  A  pleasant  picture  of  the  impression  he  made  on  another 
man  of  simple  heart  and  strong  nature  is  preserved  in  a 
letter  of  President  Mark  Hopkins,  of  Williams  College, 
written  after  Dr.  McCosh  had  visited  Williamstown.  It 
may  well  be  inserted  here.  '  That  visit,'  he  writes,  '  is 
among  my  most  pleasant  recollections.  It  was  during  the 
summer  vacation ;  the  weather  was  fine,  and  we  were  quite 
at  leisure  to  stroll  about  the  grounds  and  ride  over  the  hills. 
Riding  thus,  we  reached,  I  remember,  a  point  which  he  said 
reminded  him  of  Scotland.  There  we  alighted.  At  once 
he  bounded  into  the  field  like  a  young  man,  passed  up  the 
hillside,  and,  casting  himself  at  full  length  under  a  shade, 
gave  himself  up  for  a  time  to  the  associations  and  inspira- 
tion of  the  scene.  I  seem  to  see  him  now,  a  man  of  world- 
wide reputation,  lying  thus  solitary  among  the  hills.  They 
were  draped  in  a  dreamy  haze  suggestive  of  poetic  inspira- 
tion, and,  from  his  quiet  but  evidently  intense  enjoyment,  he 
might  well,  if  he  had  not  been  a  great  metaphysician,  have 

The  government  may  be  monarchical  or  republican  or  patriarchal.  It  may 
do  its  work  after  the  fashion  of  the  American  Congress  or  the  English  Par- 
liament. It  may  be  uni-cameral  or  bi-cameral,  as  the  Trustees  choose  or  do 
not  choose  to  put  all  power  in  the  hands  of  the  Faculty.  But  by  the  charter 
of  the  College  the  President  is  invested  with  a  power  that  belongs  to  no  one 
else.  He  ought  to  be  very  discreet,  very  wise,  very  open  to  suggestion,  and 
very  good-natured  :  but  when  he  is  sure  that  he  is  right,  very  resolute.  I 
imagine  that  Dr.  McCosh  was  as  good  a  man  as  one  could  find  anywhere  to 
have  so  much  power  in  his  hands.  He  had  the  insight  to  know  when  the 
Trustees  were  more  important  than  the  Faculty,  and  when  the  Faculty  were 
wiser  than  the  Trustees :  and  he  belonged  to  both  bodies.  He  was  shrewd, 
sagacious,  penetrating  and  masterful.  If  there  had  been  a  weatherwise  man 
among  us,  he  would  sometimes  have  hoisted  the  storm-signals  over  the  Col- 
lege Offices  :  for  the  Doctor  was  a  man  of  like  passions  with  us  all.  He  car- 
ried the  ill  loco  parentis  theory  of  government  further  than  some  are  disposed 
to  have  it  carried  to-day.  The  students  loved  him,  and  he  loved  them.  He 
was  faithful  with  them ;  spoke  plainly  to  them ;  as  a  father  with  his  sons  he 
was  severe;  and  also  as  a  father  he  was  tender  and  kind." — President  Pat- 
ton's  Memorial  Sermon. 


Francis  Landey  Patton 


1888- 


■-■»»»»  MM    ■  ■»■■  ■ili.lJ  ^ITMMM'M   ■    ri  rrTT~n  JM^JT,  i   LJ   M    .   I   I  I    .    I  Jl   W   "■   ■■-     -    —   ■ 


«JS 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  449 

been  taken  for  a  great  poet.  And,  indeed,  though  he  had 
revealed  himself  chiefly  on  the  metaphysical  side,  it  was 
evident  that  he  shared  largely  in  that  happy  temperament 
of  which  Shakespeare  and  Tennyson  are  the  best  examples, 
in  which  metaphysics  and  poetry  seem  to  be  fused  into  one 
and  become  identical.'^ 

"  About  his  personality  numberless  stories  have  gath- 
ered, illustrative  of  his  various  traits.  He  was  the  constant 
theme  of  student  talk,  even  to  his  slightest  peculiarities. 
The  '  young  barbarians  all  at  play '  were  fond  of  these,  and 
yet  with  reverence  for  him.  Who  can  forget  the  various 
class-room  and  chapel  incidents  ?  Who  will  ever  forget 
some  of  the  doctor's  favorite  hymns  ?  No  one,  surely,  who 
heard  two  of  them  sung  with  deep  tenderness  at  his 
burial. - 

"  Dr.  McCosh  gave  up  the  presidency  June  20,  1888,  pass- 
ing the  remainder  of  his  days  at  his  newly  built  home  on 
Prospect  Avenue.     His  figure  was  well  known  among  us 

'  New  York  "  Observer,"  Thursday,  May  13,  1869. 

=  JAMES  McCOSH,  1811-1894. 
Young  to  the  end,  through  sympathy  with  you, 
Gray  man  of  learning  !  champion  of  truth  ! 
Direct  in  rugged  speech,  alert  in  mind, 
He  felt  his  kinship  with  all  human  kind, 
And  never  feared  to  trace  development 
Of  high  from  low — assured  and  full  content 
That  man  paid  homage  to  the  Mind  above. 
Uplifted  by  the  "Royal  Law  of  Love." 

The  laws  of  nature  that  he  loved  to  trace 
Have  worked,  at  last,  to  veil  from  us  his  face ; 
The  dear  old  elms  and  ivy-covered  walls 
Will  miss  his  presence,  and  the  stately  halls 
His  trumpet-voice.     While  in  their  joys 
Sorrow  will  shadow  those  he  called  "  my  boys." 
November  17,  1894.  Robert  Bridges,  '79. 


452  PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Dr.  McCosh,  the  Trustees  elected,  as  his  successor,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Landey  Patton,  Professor  of  Ethics  in 
the  College,  Professor  also  in  Princeton  Theological  Semi- 
nary. He  was  inaugurated  as  President  on  the  twentieth 
of  June,  1888.  Those  who,  on  that  occasion,  spoke  for 
the  Faculty  and  the  Alumni,  while  expressing  gratitude 
for  the  past  career  of  the  College  and  loyalty  to  its  "  dis- 
tinctly Christian  basis,"  expressed  the  hope  also  that  the 
name  University  would  soon  be  adopted.  "  We  shall  be 
glad,"  said  Dr.  Henry  van  Dyke,  speaking  for  the  Alumni, 
"when  the  last  swaddling-band  of  an  outgrown  name  drops 
from  the  infant,  and  '  the  College  of  New  Jersey '  stands  up 
straight  in  the  centre  of  the  Middle  States  as  the  University 
of  Princeton."  The  new  President,  sharing  in  the  general 
desire,  answered,  in  his  inaugural  discourse,  the  questions, 
"What  is  a  university?"  and  "What  kind  of  a  university 
ought  Princeton  to  be  ?  " 

Inheriting  thus  from  the  previous  administration  the  ideal 
of  a  University,  and  the  beginnings  of  its  realization.  Presi- 
dent Patton  has  labored  with  conspicuous  success  to  make 
this  ideal  actual.  The  Faculty  of  Instruction  has  been 
largely  increased,  the  departments  have  been  more  highly 
organized,  and  additional  courses  for  undergraduates  and 
graduate  students  have  been  established.  The  number  of 
students  during  the  first  eight  years  of  the  present  adminis- 
tration rose  from  six  hundred  to  eleven  hundred ;  and  more 
states  and  countries  are  represented  in  the  student  body 
to-day  than  at  any  previous  period.  Leaving  out  of  view 
the  gifts  and  foundations  which  have  been  made  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Sesquicentennial  Celebration,  not  only  were 
additional  endowments  given  and  real  property  of  great 
value  to  the  College  acquired  during  the  eight  years  re- 
ferred to,  but  as  many  as  eight  new  buildings  were  erected. 

This  exceptionally  rapid  development  of  the  institution, 


PRINCETON   SESQUICENTENNIAL   CELEBRATION  453 

along  the  lines  already  indicated,  during  the  present  admin- 
istration and  the  administration  immediately  preceding  it, 
determined  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  apply  for  a  change  in 
its  corporate  name.  It  was  thought  that  the  one  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  grant  of  the  first  charter 
would  offer  a  suitable  occasion  for  the  change  of  the  name 
from  the  College  of  New  Jersey  to  Princeton  University, 
and  the  Sesquicentennial  Celebration  was  projected.  In  this 
celebration  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Governor 
of  New  Jersey,  Representatives  of  Foreign  Universities 
and  of  the  Universities  and  Learned  Societies  of  the  United 
States,  united  with  the  President,  the  Trustees,  the  Faculty, 
the  Patrons,  the  Alumni  and  the  Undergraduates  of  the 
College,  and  the  citizens  of  Princeton,  in  commemorating 
with  joy  and  gratitude  the  great  and  beneficent  career  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey.  The  appropriateness  of  the  cele- 
bration and  the  propriety  of  the  new  name  were  cordially 
and  unanimously  acknowledged.  The  addresses  during 
the  celebration,  and  the  responses  to  the  invitations  to  assist 
in  the  Academic  festival,  embodied  the  feeling  expressed  in 
the  legend  inscribed  on  one  of  the  arches  : 

AVE    SALVE    VNIVERSITAS    PRINCETONIENSIS. 


[  While  writing  the  historical  sketch,  I  had  many  conversations  with  Dr. 
Shields,  and  am  under  great  obligations  to  him  for  valuable  information  and 
suggestions.  In  these  conversations  he  developed  a  view  of  the  specific  aims 
of  the  original  projectors  of  the  College  and  of  the  relations  between  the  two 
charters  which  does  not  agree  with  the  view  presented  by  myself  in  the  fore- 
going pages.  At  my  request,  Dr.  Shields  has  embodied  his  view  in  a  note  on 
"  The  Origin  of  Princeton  University  "  ;   and  the  note  is  here  subjoined. 

John  De  Witt.] 


THE    ORIGIN    OF    PRINCETON    UNIVERSITY. 
By  Professor  Charles  W.  Shields. 

In  the  year  1755,  on  the  completion  of  Nassau  Hall,  the  Trustees  ad- 
dressed Governor  Belcher  as  "  the  founder,  patron  and  benefactor  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey."  His  right  to  this  title,  thus  authoritatively  bestowed, 
had  been  established  by  several  eminent  services  which  now  show  their  fruit 
in  the  character  and  life  of  Princeton  University. 

First.  He  legalized  the  College.  The  charter  held  at  that  time  [1747]  by 
Pemberton,  Burr,  Tennent,  Finley  and  others  was  under  suspicion  and  dis- 
cussion. The  previous  royal  Governor  had  refused  to  grant  it.  It  had  been 
obtained,  in  the  absence  of  a  succeeding  Governor,  from  a  mere  President  of 
the  Council,  who  was  old  and  infirm.  It  had  not  been  approved  by  the 
Council,  nor  sent  to  the  home  government  for  ratification.  It  did  not  even 
contain  any  provision  for  a  representative  of  the  Crown  in  the  College  man- 
agement. It  lacked  the  most  essential  elements  of  legality.  In  these  circum- 
stances Governor  Belcher  took  the  legal  advice  of  Chief  Justice  Kinsey  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  deferred  the  first  commencement  until  he  could  frame  "  a 

455 


456  THE  ORIGIN  OF  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 

new  and  better  charter,"  which  was  unanimously  approved  by  the  Council, 
and  endorsed  by  the  Attorney-General  as  containing  nothing  inconsistent 
with  His  Majesty's  interest  or  honor.  By  this  new  charter  the  royal  Gov- 
ernor was  made  ex-officio  president  of  the  College  corporation,  and  all  the 
Trustees  were  bound  by  stringent  oaths  of  allegiance.  The  Governor  did 
not  rest  satisfied  until  four  of  the  King's  councillors  had  been  admitted  to 
seats  in  the  Board  of  Trust,  and  the  Treasurer  of  the  Province  had  been 
elected  Treasurer  of  the  College.  In  various  ways  he  secured  the  validity  of 
the  charter,  and  thus  made  Princeton  University  possible  and  perpetual  as  a 
legal  entity. 

Second.  He  secularized  the  College  in  a  good  sense.  In  the  first  charter 
there  were  but  three  laymen  —  William  Smith,  Livingston,  Peartree  Smith  — 
named  with  nine  clergymen — Dickinson,  Pearson,  Pemberton,  Burr,  Gilbert 
Tennent,  William  Tennent,  Blair,  Treat,  Finley.  Governor  Belcher  made  the 
lay  equal  the  clerical  corporators  in  number,  and  gave  the  King's  councillors, 
esquires,  and  gentlemen  precedence  of  the  ministers,  according  to  existing 
usages  in  His  Majesty's  province.  It  is  not  surprising  that  he  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  persuade  both  Mr.  Burr  and  Mr.  Tennent  that  this  was  a  good  arrange- 
ment. They  desired  a  preparatory  college  for  ministers,  or  at  most  a  clerical 
college  for  the  education  of  the  youth  of  the  Church  ;  while  he  wished  all  the 
learned  professions  represented  in  the  governing  body,  with  no  preference  or 
predominance  of  divinity.  He  thus  saved  Princeton  University  at  its  origin 
from  excessive  clericalism  and  ecclesiasticism. 

Third.  He  liberalized  the  College  in  its  spirit.  The  non-denominational 
clause  was  in  both  charters,  and  does  not  bear  upon  the  point.  No  charter 
could  have  been  legally  obtained  without  that  clause.  It  was  required  by  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  province,  as  the  language  of  the  document  shows. 
Moreover,  the  Episcopalian  churchmen  in  the  King's  Council  would  never 
have  allowed  a  so-called  "  dissenting  "  college  such  as  Presbyterian  church- 
men alone  would  have  founded.  The  liberality  of  the  parties,  therefore,  was 
necessary,  politic,  advantageous,  creditable  in  all  respects.  But  it  was  Gov- 
ernor Belcher  who  made  the  generous  compromise  possible  and  effective. 
He  not  only  retained  all  the  Presbyterian  churchmen  in  the  new  Board,  but  he 
associated  with  them  representatives  of  the  Church  of  England,  of  the  Society 
of  Friends,  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  and  Welsh  Calvinists,  as  equally  governors 
of  the  College,  and  not  as  mere  sharers  in  its  privileges.  He  thus  early 
imparted  to  it  that  character  of  catholic  orthodoxy  which  Princeton  Uni- 
versity still  possesses. 

Fourth.  He  was  foremost  in  nationalizing  the  College.  But  for  his  com- 
prehensive policy,  Pemberton  and  Burr  might  have  founded  some  local  col- 
lege in  East  Jersey,  or  Tennent  and  Davies  might  have  founded  some  sectional 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY  457 

college  in  Pennsylvania.  All  these  ministers  were  then  involved  in  a  church 
schism  and,  at  best,  could  only  have  united  in  a  colonial  Presbyterian  insti- 
tution. Retaining  them  in  the  new  College,  he  made  it  a  unifying  centre 
amid  their  ecclesiastical  disputes  and  divisions  ;  drew  representative  men  from 
other  colonies  into  its  corporation  ;  urged  its  location  at  Princeton,  between 
West  and  East  Jersey ;  united  New  York  and  Philadelphia  influences  in  its 
counsels ;  and  corresponded  with  its  friends  from  New  England  to  Virginia. 
By  connecting  it  with  the  State  rather  than  the  Church,  and  by  introducing 
civilians  among  its  divines,  he  combined  civil  with  ecclesiastical  tendencies  to 
colonial  unity,  and  thus  laid  the  foundations,  for  Witherspoon,  of  a  school  of 
statesmen  as  well  as  a  nursery  of  ministers ;  in  other  words,  of  a  future  na- 
tional university. 

Lastly,  he  made  the  College  financially  secure  on  this  enlarged  basis.  It 
was  at  the  point  of  failure  for  want  of  funds.  Both  Pemberton  and  Burr,  not- 
withstanding his  urgent  solicitation,  had  declined  to  visit  the  mother  country 
on  a  collecting  tour.  He  found  cordial  helpers  in  Davies  and  Tennent;  in- 
duced them  to  procure  a  recommendation  of  the  Synod ;  and  gave  them  his 
own  influential  letters,  by  means  of  which  they  obtained  contributions  from 
English  churchmen  and  non-conformists  as  well  as  from  Scotch  and  Irish 
Presbyterians.  The  total  amount  secured  by  the  mission  was  sufficient  for 
the  erection  of  the  largest  public  edifice  in  the  colonies,  and  about  one  half 
of  it  came  from  non-Presbyterian  contributors,  such  as  the  Bishop  of  Dur- 
ham, the  Lady  Huntingdon  Connexion,  the  Independents  and  Baptists,  in- 
cluding some  distinguished  scholars.  The  facts  clearly  show  that  these  con- 
tributions were  due  to  the  catholic  policy  of  the  governor.  He  thus  made 
Nassau  Hall  a  monument  of  the  united  gifts  of  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland 
to  the  cause  of  Christian  learning  in  America. 

It  is  now  evident,  I  think,  that  Governor  Belcher  was  rightly  called  the 
founder  of  the  College.  What  were  the  circumstances  ?  On  arriving  in  the 
Colony,  he  discovered  that,  in  the  interim  since  the  death  of  the  preceding 
Governor,  a  college  had  been  projected  with  a  new  royal  charter  which  re- 
quired his  official  notice.  Placing  himself  in  cordial  sympathy  with  the 
movement,  he  announced  his  belief  that  some  public  educational  institution 
was  greatly  needed  by  the  inhabitants  of  New  Jersey.  And  yet,  as  the  King's 
representative,  he  could  not  leave  so  weighty  a  civil  interest  in  the  hands  of  a 
few  clergymen,  however  excellent  they  might  be.  Moreover,  he  found  that 
their  proposed  college  was  of  dubious  legality ;  that  there  was  not  a  trace  of 
it  in  the  public  records;  that  it  was  wholly  denominational  in  its  manage- 
ment ;  that  it  was  impracticable  under  existing  conditions  in  a  royal  province 
attached  to  the  Bishop  of  London  ;  and  that  it  would  soon  have  perished 
utterly,  with  all  that  was  good  and  noble  in  it.     In  a  most  generous  spirit 


458  THE  ORIGIN  OF  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 

he  took  its  projectors  into  his  own  counsels  ;  rescued  its  best  elements 
and  founded  in  its  place  another  and  different  college,  which  was  a  strictly 
legal  corporation,  largely  civil  in  its  constitution,  and  intended  for  the  higher 
education  of  the  whole  province,  including  all  religious  denominations.  In 
contrast  with  the  previous  project,  it  was  described  at  that  time  as  "  a  most 
catholic  plan  containing  no  exclusive  clauses  to  deprive  persons  of  any  Chris- 
tain  denomination  either  from  its  Government  or  from  any  of  its  Privileges." 
It  differed  from  the  former  project  somewhat  as  a  state  university  differs  from 
a  church  college  and  divinity  school,  or  as  Princeton  University  now  differs 
from  Lafayette  College  and  Princeton  Theological  Seminary. 

It  is  also  evident  that  to  Governor  Belcher  must  be  traced  the  present 
university  spirit  of  the  College.  The  Presbyterian  churchmen  would  have 
founded  an  exclusively  Presbyterian  institution,  in  a  denominational  spirit, 
for  an  ecclesiastical  purpose.  It  was  no  more  their  aim  than  their  province 
to  found  a  State  university  including  all  denominations.  They  had  been 
laboring  to  found  a  synodical  college,  which  they  relinquished  only  because  of 
a  schism  in  the  Synod  itself  "  Their  governing  motive,"  says  Dr.  Maclean, 
"was  to  provide  for  the  youth  of  their  Church,  and  more  especially  for  their 
candidates  for  the  ministry,  a  thorough  training  in  all  the  various  branches 
of  a  liberal  education,  including  as  a  matter  of  the  highest  interest  full  instruc- 
tion in  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith  according  to  their  understanding  of 
them."  Instead  of  thus  narrowing  and  bounding  the  field  of  liberal  culture 
in  his  civil  domain,  the  Governor  devised  for  them  a  more  ample  charter, 
which  by  its  terms  gave  to  them  no  exclusive  control  as  Presbyterians  over 
"  the  education  of  the  youth  of  this  province  in  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences," 
but  simply  provided  by  implication  for  the  maintenance  of  that  essential 
Christianity  which  is  common  to  all  denominations.  And,  according  to  the 
plain  intent  and  scope  of  this  charter,  the  Governor  organized  the  College,  as 
we  have  seen,  with  a  board  of  civilians  and  divines,  with  different  denomina- 
tions represented  by  the  charter  members  and  their  first  successors,  and 
with  equal  reference  to  all  the  learned  professions,  the  secular  as  well  as  the 
sacred.  It  is  true,  that  after  his  decease  the  policy  grew  more  denomina- 
tional and  ecclesiastical  until  the  emergence  of  Princeton  Seminary,  when,  as 
Dr.  Hodge  informs  us,  "  the  Trustees  agreed  to  withdraw  from  theological 
instruction  in  preparation  for  the  ministry."  But  it  is  also  true  that  from  the 
first  the  governor  aimed  to  make  the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  spirit  what  it 
has  become  in  fact  and  in  name  —  Princeton  University.  And  nobly  has  it 
at  last  fulfilled  the  aim  of  its  founder. 

The  comparative  neglect  of  his  name  and  services  may  be  easily  explained. 
At  the  Revolution  we  came  under  patriotic  influences  which  threw  into  the 
shade  much  that  was  good  and  noble  in  our  colonial  life,  and  made  it  diffi- 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY  459 

cult  to  appreciate  a  loyalist  governor  as  a  public  benefactor.  Our  later 
historians,  too,  have  unwittingly  robbed  him  of  credit  by  giving  it  to  some 
of  his  coadjutors.  Because  the  names  of  Dickinson,  Pierson,  Pemberton  and 
Burr  appear  ?lone  in  a  New  York  advertisement  of  1747,  it  has  been  inferred, 
naturally,  that  they  were  the  sole  originators  of  the  College  ;  and  upon  this 
assumption  successive  histories  and  sketches  have  been  written  for  nearly  a 
hundred  years.  But  recently  discovered  papers  show  us  that  these  four 
ministers  were  associated  in  their  project  with  the  Tennents,  Blair,  Finley 
and  others,  and  could  not  have  been  the  exclusive  founders  or  builders  of  the 
College.  Dickinson,  unhappily,  died  before  it  was  legally  organized.  Burr 
was  made  its  President  by  Governor  Belcher's  composite  Board  of  Trustees, 
and,  of  course,  only  voiced  their  policy  in  his  inaugural  address.  Pemberton 
retired  from  its  trusteeship  to  Boston  before  it  was  settled  at  Princeton. 
Both  Pemberton  and  Burr  failed  to  rescue  it  at  a  crisis  when  it  would  have 
perished  but  for  the  energetic  efforts  of  Belcher,  as  seconded  by  the  eloquent 
appeals  of  Davies  and  Tennent  in  Great  Britain.  Without  those  efforts  the 
Latin  School  at  Newark  could  not  have  become  Princeton  College.  More- 
over, in  contrast  with  recent  historians,  the  earliest  known  historian,  Samuel 
Blair  the  Second,  in  1761,  acting  as  the  official  historiographer,  distinctly 
ascribed  the  origin  of  the  College  to  His  Excellency  Jonathan  Belcher,  at 
that  time  governor,  and  classed  the  College  of  the  first  charter  among  pre- 
vious "  disappointments  and  fruitless  attempts  to  plant  and  cherish  learning 
in  the  province  of  New  Jersey." 

Finally,  our  recent  historians,  while  justly  praising  the  three  "pioneer 
Presidents,"  have  quite  overlooked  the  founder,  patron  and  benefactor  of  the 
College.  The  great  Dickinson  has  the  titular  distinction  of  First  President, 
since  from  the  beginning  he  held  that  place  in  the  minds  of  all  parties ;  and 
his  claim  to  the  honor  will  not  be  questioned  by  any  loyal  son  of  Princeton. 
Aaron  Burr,  the  first  President  who  conferred  degrees,  seems  to  have  con- 
fined himself  to  the  duties  of  instruction  during  the  ten  years  of  his  adminis- 
tration. Jonathan  Edwards  was  President  but  two  or  three  weeks.  The 
plain  fact  remains  that  the  College,  as  we  know  it,  was  founded  and  erected 
by  Governor  Belcher  with  the  aid  of  Tennent  and  Davies,  and  in  the  line  of 
that  succession  has  continued  one  hundred  and  forty  years  until  the  present 
day.  The  New  England  influence  impressed  upon  Princeton  University  at 
its  origin  was  not  the  "  iron  heel  of  mighty  Edwards,"  of  which  Oliver  Wen- 
dell Holmes  has  sung,  but  the  liberal  hand  of  Jonathan  Belcher,  representing 
another  type  of  culture  as  well  as  orthodoxy. 

It  is  but  simple  justice  to  a  forgotten  benefactor  to  state  these  historical 
facts.  They  involve  no  disparagement  of  any  of  his  clerical  coadjutors,  who 
themselves  gladly  surrendered   their  own   scheme  and  accepted  his  potent 


460  THE  ORIGIN  OF  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 

leadership.  Their  praiseworthy  aims  as  churchmen  were  not  inconsistent 
with  his  larger  views  as  governor  of  the  province.  He  was  himself  in  per- 
fect sympathy  with  them  as  an  evangelical  Christian,  as  a  thorough  Calvinist 
of  the  Whitefield  type,  as  an  admirer  of  "  the  pious  and  learned  Dickinson," 
and  even  as  a  churchman  of  the  evangelical  school.  But  he  was  also  much 
more  than  all  this.  He  was  an  enlightened,  far-seeing  statesman,  with  influ- 
ence at  court.  He  was  a  classical  scholar,  with  a  taste  for  learning.  He  was 
a  former  Harvard  graduate  and  overseer,  versed  in  academic  studies  and 
educational  matters.  He  was  an  efficient  man  of  affairs,  with  a  long  public 
record.  He  was  a  ruler  ambitious  of  the  best  kind  of  fame.  He  was  a 
royal  patron  of  a  college  which  he  styled  his  adopted  daughter  and  the 
alum  mater  of  coming  generations  of  scholars,  divines  and  statesmen.  He, 
and  he  alone,  at  that  time  had  both  the  opportunity  and  the  disposition  to 
lay  the  foundations  of  a  great  Christian  university. 

During  his  own  lifetime  he  was  the  accepted  founder  of  the  institution. 
The  Trustees  of  his  day,  including  the  petitioners  for  the  former  cliarter,  so 
entitled  him,  and  wished  to  have  the  College  Hall  bear  the  name  of  Belcher, 
after  the  manner  of  Harvard  and  Yale.  "  As  the  College  of  New  Jersey," 
said  they,  "  views  you  in  the  light  of  its  founder,  patron  and  benefactor,  and 
the  impartial  world  will  esteem  it  a  respect  deservedly  due  to  the  name  of 
Belcher,  permit  us  to  dignify  the  edifice  now  erecting  at  Princeton  with  that 
endeared  appellation  ;  and  when  your  Excellency  is  translated  to  a  house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens,  let  Belcher  Hall  proclaim  your 
beneficent  acts  for  the  advancement  of  Christianity  and  the  emolument  of  the 
arts  and  sciences  to  the  latest  generations." 

He  declined  this  honor,  and  suggested  the  name  of  the  illustrious  house  of 
Nassau,  by  which  Protestantism  had  been  enthroned  in  English  civilization. 
We  are  fortunate  in  now  having  that  more  euphonious  historic  name,  but  we 
are  indebted  to  Governor  Belcher  for  it,  and  his  modesty  is  to  be  somewhat 
regretted  if  it  shall  have  deprived  him  of  a  just  fame  to  which  he  is  entitled. 
Should  any  memorial  statue  ever  be  erected  in  the  niche  over  the  doorway  of 
Nassau  Hall,  it  could  only  be  inscribed,  in  the  language  of  the  original 
Trustees,  to  Jonathan  Belcher,  the  Founder,  Patron  and  Bene- 
factor OF  Princeton  University. 


ERRATA. 

Page  185,  line  11,  for  ' 8g  read  '88. 
"     206,    "      10,  for  hoc  read  Iiac. 
"     269,    "       8,  for  Universitate  read  Universitatis. 
"     287,    "     23,  for  z't  read  ?//. 
"     291,  for  Piixser  read  Purser. 


